The roles of team collective voice and team autonomy in promoting team innovative performance through routine changes

Abstract

PurposeThe team collective voice (TCV) concept has received limited attention in existing research despite its potential significance, particularly within Eastern cultural contexts. Hence, this paper aims to extend the employee voice literature by conducting a comprehensive exploration of the role of TCV as opposed to individual voice (IV) in promoting team innovative performance (TIP).Design/methodology/approachThe theoretical model is tested with survey data collected among ICT employees who work in large telecommunication organizations in Vietnam.FindingsTCV was used more by participants than IV. Both IV and TCV exhibited noteworthy influences on TIP explained by the role of routine changes, with TCV serving as a full mediator for the relationship between IV and TIP. In addition, team autonomy (TA) also significantly enhanced TIP.Originality/valueBy measuring TCV as shared and consensus team voice, this study makes significant contributions to employee voice literature. It not only confirms the prevalence but also offers insightful explanations for why Vietnamese employees tend to favor TCV over IV. Additionally, the findings enrich the innovation literature by presenting a novel perspective on how employee voice can enhance TIP through the introduction of exogenous routine changes. It introduces a unique perspective on employee voice as a form of a search routine, distinct from Nelson and Winter's (1982) conceptualization of search, generating changes in lower-order routines, ultimately contributing to enhanced team innovation and performance.