Dissenters, Managers, and Coworkers

Abstract

Previous research on organizational dissent has explored a number of issues, but that research has been overly focused on the dissenter while neglecting the active role of others in co-constructing dissent. That line of scholarship has also tended to examine dissent expressions in isolation rather than exploring how previous experiences shape present expectations. This essay redefines dissent to situate interaction centrally and to focus on dissent interactions over time as a process rather than a one-time event. The success or failure of dissent is conceptualized as part of that process. Such a perspective reveals nuances by including the stories and discourses that are told as part of and in addition to an initial dissent conversation. A case study demonstrates how this reconceptualization of dissent recognizes the primary importance of interaction in constituting organizations and advances process theory by explicating the value such a perspective adds to this context.

Simulating Dissent: Mapping the Life Span of Organizational Dissent using Agent-Based Modeling

“…As previously mentioned, Garner (2013) described three moments in the dissent process: precipitation, initial conversation, and residual communication. During precipitation, a would-be dissenter first experiences a disconnect with an organizational practice or policy and then chooses a strategy for expressing dissent (Kassing, 1997).…”

“…The third moment that Garner (2013) proposed was called residual communication. Residual communication includes the communication about dissent that follows the initial conversation.…”

“…Employees complaining about customers would not be dissenting nor would coworkers in personal conflict with each other. Garner (2013) used a process theory approach to explain what happens when an employee dissents. A process theory is an approach that characterizes phenomena as a series of events in contrast to variance approaches that characterize phenomena as variables linked to other variables (Poole et al, 2000).…”

“…Applying the process theory approach to organizational dissent, Garner (2013) used the life-cycle motor to explain the thought processes leading up to dissent expressions, the dissent conversations themselves, and stories told about the dissenter. Garner labeled these stages precipitation, initial conversation, and residual communication.…”

NGO Organizing for Environmental Sustainability in Brazil: Meaningful Work, Commonality, and Contradiction

“…NGO participants perceived their work to be interactionmaking contact with other members, meeting with and learning from people, taking initiative to grow and sustain relationships with experts, and developing capacities to engage in dissent productively (Banks, 2008;Garner, 2013;Kassing, 2011), even if it meant "swearing" at each other:…”