The relationship between organizational democracy and organizational dissent: A research on white collars

This study aims to reveal the relationship between organizational democracy perception and organizational dissent behavior of white collars employed in industry and service sectors in Aegean and Marmara regions. The research is conducted by using quantitative methodology. The literature review that aims to present the theoretical framework is followed by the field research conducted to test the hypotheses that are set forth by the researcher. To this end, the required data is collected by using a questionnaire that contains two sections to measure organizational democracy and organizational dissent besides a question form to determine the demographic structure of the sample. The questionnaire is applied on a sample of 387 employees between May 2014 and May 2015. The organizational democracy perception of the sample is measured by a scale that examines the organizational democracy through five sub-dimensions which are namely structural elements, initiative, information sharing, communication and education. In order to measure organizational dissent, the sample is given a translation of organizational dissent scale by Kassing (1998). The original scale consists of three sub-divisions which are namely articulated dissent, latent dissent and displaced dissent. However, the data that is collected in the study regarding the articulated dissent are required to be examined in two sub-divisions which are questioning articulated dissent and constructive articulated dissent. Both scales are proved to be valid and reliable. This study shows that all the sub-divisions of organizational democracy scored above the average, the structural elements having the highest score, which demonstrates the presence of all the elements of democracy in organizations. The study also shows that the most frequent dissent strategy in organizations is constructive articulated dissent. This study reveals the positive correlation between organizational democracy and organizational dissent. Another important finding of the study is that organizational dissent is a significant variable in explaining organizational democracy, that is, as the organizational dissent increases, the perception of organizational democracy increases.