Another stream of research focuses on aspects of an organizational context that
may facilitate or hinder employees’ willingness to speak up. According to Detert and
Burris (2007), an embedded belief in this stream of research is that “even the most
proactive or satisfied employees are likely to ‘read the wind’ as to whether it is safe
and/or worthwhile to speak up in their particular context” (p. 869). In recent years,
scholars have increasingly investigated contextual factors that affect voice behavior in
organizations (Detert & Treviño, 2010; Dundon, Wilkinson, Marchington, & Ackers,
2004). For example, Zhou and George (2001) viewed employee creativity as an
expression of voice, and provided evidence that dissatisfied employees with high
continuance commitment are more likely to be creative when their coworkers offered
them useful feedback, were helpful and supportive, and employees perceived a high level
of organizational support. Also, Detert and Treviño (2010) explored how leaders
influence employee voice perceptions in their qualitative research.