Examining the Antecedents of Organizational Silence in the Aviation Industry

Abstract

Purpose – The aim of the study is to identify the antecedents of organizational silence in the aviation industry. Accordingly, it is aimed to take precautionary measures against the factors that cause silence in many businesses or organizations operating in the aviation sector, such as airline, aircraft maintenance, ground and passenger services. Design/methodology/approach – In the research, the data were obtained through the qualitative method and interviews were conducted with 30 participants at the manager/employee level. Thematic content analysis was used in the research and data analyzes were made using NVIVO software. Results- According to the findings obtained; The most common type of silence in the aviation industry is acquiescent silence, and it is observed that, to a relatively lesser extent, protective (prosocial) silence behavior is exhibited, especially by female employees. Research findings show that silence in the industry is largely due to some organizational antecedents, but trust in the manager is among these reasons in the aviation industry. On the other hand, while the silence of a small number of employees is based on individual premises, it has been found that the culture of collectivism is among the precursors of organizational silence due to cultural reasons, as well as the power distance in the aviation industry, which acts with a collective approach. Discussion- In the aviation industry, only the type of defensive silence has never been encountered, and this is explained on two grounds: both the low level of defensive actions in collectivist cultures and the lack of defensive behavior by employees in organizations where trust in the manager is weak. Another issue is that only female employees exhibit protective (prosocial) silence behaviors due to their high level of emotional commitment compared to men with a gender-based approach. It is seen that employees who do not trust their managers exhibit silent behaviors, and it is believed that organizational silence can be reduced by increasing or activating intra-organizational communication through trust in the manager in the aviation sector, as in many other industries. While it is mentioned in the literature that only power distance is a reason for organizational silence, it is understood that the collectivist tendency of the employees in the aviation sector is one of the antecedents of corporate silence. Of course, this situation may be unique to the aviation sector, but it is thought that research to be carried out in different sectors can reveal whether the subject has a sector-specific quality.