Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • 2011
  • Working Paper
  • HBS Working Paper Series

Managerial Practices That Promote Voice and Taking Charge among Frontline Workers

By: Julia Adler-Milstein, Sara J. Singer and Michael W. Toffel
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:43
ShareBar

Abstract

Process-improvement ideas often come from frontline workers who speak up by voicing concerns about problems and by taking charge to resolve them. We hypothesize that organization-wide process-improvement campaigns encourage both forms of speaking up, especially voicing concern. We also hypothesize that the effectiveness of such campaigns depends on the prior responsiveness of line managers. We test our hypotheses in the healthcare setting, in which problems are frequent. We use data on nearly 7,500 reported incidents extracted from an incident-reporting system that is similar to those used by many organizations to encourage employees to communicate about operational problems. We find that process-improvement campaigns prompt employees to speak up and that campaigns increase the frequency of voicing concern to a greater extent than they increase taking charge. We also find that campaigns are particularly effective in eliciting taking charge among employees whose managers have been relatively unresponsive to previous instances of speaking up. Our results therefore indicate that organization-wide campaigns can encourage voicing concerns and taking charge, two important forms of speaking up. These results can enable managers to solicit ideas from frontline workers that lead to performance improvement.

Keywords

Communication; Employees; Knowledge Sharing; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Management Practices and Processes; Operations; Business Processes; Performance Improvement

Citation

Adler-Milstein, Julia, Sara J. Singer, and Michael W. Toffel. "Managerial Practices That Promote Voice and Taking Charge among Frontline Workers." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 11-005, July 2010. (Revised Sept. 2011. Best Theory-to-Practice Paper Award by Academy of Management's Health Care Management Division. Selected for Best Paper Proceedings of the 2011 Academy of Management Meeting.)
  • SSRN
  • Read Now

About The Author

Michael W. Toffel

Technology and Operations Management
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • April 2023
    • Faculty Research

    Driving Decarbonization at BMW – Instructor Spreadsheet Supplement

    By: Shirley Lu, George Serafeim and Michael W. Toffel
    • January 2023
    • Faculty Research

    Global Sourcing at Nike

    By: Nien-hê Hsieh and Michael W. Toffel
    • December 2022 (Revised April 2023)
    • Faculty Research

    Driving Decarbonization at BMW - Spreadsheet Supplement

    By: Shirley Lu, George Serafeim and Michael W. Toffel
More from the Authors
  • Driving Decarbonization at BMW – Instructor Spreadsheet Supplement By: Shirley Lu, George Serafeim and Michael W. Toffel
  • Global Sourcing at Nike By: Nien-hê Hsieh and Michael W. Toffel
  • Driving Decarbonization at BMW - Spreadsheet Supplement By: Shirley Lu, George Serafeim and Michael W. Toffel
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College