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Collective voice mechanisms, HRM practices and organizational performance in Italian manufacturing firms

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  • Della Torre, Edoardo

Abstract

The literature on employee voice has grown enormously over the past decades. However, the relationships between different employee voice mechanisms and organizational performance are far from being fully understood, and the existing research shows mixed evidence. Moreover, the HRM literature tends to concentrate on individual voice mechanisms (e.g. employee involvement) and to underestimate the role that collective voice may have in the HRM performance relationship. This paper aims to analyze how collective employee voice mechanisms (i.e. union voice and team voice) affect organizational productivity and how these relationships vary when voice mechanisms are adopted in combination with other HRM practices (i.e. variable pay, training, performance appraisals and multitasking). The analysis of a sample of 223 Italian manufacturing firms matched with an external database (AIDA) containing balance sheet information found that union voice is positively related to labor productivity, while team voice does not show any significant relationship with labor productivity. Moreover, both union and team voice have important moderation effects in the HRM-performance relationship. Union voice moderates positively the relationship between variable pay and performance and negatively the relationship between training and performance. Team voice positively moderates the relationship between training and performance. The implications of these findings are discussed.

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  • Della Torre, Edoardo, 2019. "Collective voice mechanisms, HRM practices and organizational performance in Italian manufacturing firms," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 398-410.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eurman:v:37:y:2019:i:3:p:398-410
    DOI: 10.1016/j.emj.2018.09.001
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    3. Rizwan Raheem Ahmed & Munwar Hussain Pahi & Shahid Nadeem & Riaz Hussain Soomro & Vishnu Parmar & Fouzia Nasir & Faiz Ahmed, 2023. "How and When Ethics Lead to Organizational Performance: Evidence from South Asian Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-29, May.
    4. Yanhan Zhu & Jiang Wu, 0. "Does charismatic leadership encourage or suppress follower voice? The moderating role of challenge–hindrance stressors," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 0, pages 1-26.
    5. Yunfeng Sun & Hao Yang & Chongyang Qian & Yifeng Jiang & Xiaowei Luo & Xiang Wu, 2022. "Voice Endorsement and Employee Safety Voice Behavior in Construction Projects: The Mediating Role of Leader-Member Exchange," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-17, March.

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