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Loyalty, Voice, and Intent to Exit a Union Firm: A Conceptual and Empirical Analysis

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  • Karen E. Boroff
  • David Lewin

Abstract

Drawing on economics and organizational behavior concepts, the authors develop a model of employee “voice†(defined in terms of the frequency of grievance filing) and employee intent to exit the firm. They test the model using data on a sample of nonmanagement employees of a large multinational telecommunications firm in 1991. Employees' loyalty to the firm and their perception of the grievance procedure's effectiveness are the main independent variables. In tests that focus exclusively on employees who reported having been treated unfairly by the employer at some time, loyalty is found to have had a consistently strong negative association with both the exercise of voice and intent to exit the firm. One implication of these findings is that loyal employees who experienced unfair workplace treatment primarily responded by suffering in silence.

Suggested Citation

  • Karen E. Boroff & David Lewin, 1997. "Loyalty, Voice, and Intent to Exit a Union Firm: A Conceptual and Empirical Analysis," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 51(1), pages 50-63, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:51:y:1997:i:1:p:50-63
    DOI: 10.1177/001979399705100104
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Bartel, Ann P, 1979. "The Migration Decision: What Role Does Job Mobility Play?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 69(5), pages 775-786, December.
    2. Richard B. Freeman, 1980. "The Exit-Voice Tradeoff in the Labor Market: Unionism, Job Tenure, Quits, and Separations," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 94(4), pages 643-673.
    3. Richard B. Freeman, 1980. "The Exit-Voice Tradeoff in the Labor Market: Unionism, Job Tenure, Quits," NBER Working Papers 0242, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    Cited by:

    1. Soane, Emma & Truss, Catherine & Alfes, Kerstin & Shantz, Amanda & Rees, Chris & Gatenby, Mark, 2012. "Development and application of a new measure of employee engagement: the ISA engagement scale," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 63486, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Brian Klaas & Anna-Katherine Ward, 2015. "Formal, Justice-Oriented Voice in the Nonunion Firm: Who Speaks Up and When?," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 321-356, April.
    3. Andy Charlwood & Anna Pollert, 2014. "Informal Employment Dispute Resolution among Low-Wage Non-Union Workers: Does Managerially Initiated Workplace Voice Enhance Equity and Efficiency?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 52(2), pages 359-386, June.
    4. Bernard Walker & R.T. Hamilton, 2015. "What influences the progression of employment rights disputes?," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(2), pages 117-133, March.
    5. Panos, Georgios & Theodossiou, Ioannis, 2009. "Union Mediation and Adaptation to Reciprocal Loyalty Arrangements," MPRA Paper 15471, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Fan, Di & Lo, Chris K.Y. & Yeung, Andy C.L. & Cheng, T.C.E., 2018. "The impact of corporate label change on long-term labor productivity," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 96-108.
    7. Georgios A. Panos & Ioannis Theodossiou, 2013. "Reciprocal Loyalty and Union Mediation," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(3), pages 645-676, July.
    8. David Marsden, 2013. "Individual Voice in Employment Relationships: A Comparison under Different Forms of Workplace Representation," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52, pages 221-258, January.
    9. Alfes, Kerstin & Shantz, Amanda & Truss, Catherine & Soane, Emma, 2013. "The link between perceived human resource management practices, engagement and employee behaviour: a moderated mediation model," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 42345, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    10. Michael David Maffie, 2023. "Becoming a pirate: Independence as an alternative to exit in the gig economy," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 61(1), pages 46-67, March.
    11. Troy Sarina, 2013. "The Challenges of a Representation Gap: Australian Experiments in Promoting Industrial Citizenship," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52, pages 397-418, January.
    12. Okechukwu, Cassandra A. & Kelly, Erin L. & Bacic, Janine & DePasquale, Nicole & Hurtado, David & Kossek, Ellen & Sembajwe, Grace, 2016. "Supporting employees' work-family needs improves health care quality: Longitudinal evidence from long-term care," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 111-119.
    13. Hildreth, John Angus D. & Gino, Francesca & Bazerman, Max, 2016. "Blind loyalty? When group loyalty makes us see evil or engage in it," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 16-36.
    14. Peter Gahan, 2012. "“Voice Within Voice”: Members’ Voice Responses to Dissatisfaction with Their Union," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(1), pages 29-56, January.
    15. Ariel C. Avgar & Julie Anna Sadler & Paul Clark & Wonjoon Chung, 2016. "Labor–Management Partnership and Employee Voice: Evidence from the Healthcare Setting," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(4), pages 576-603, October.

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