Enigma of Silence in Organizations: What Happens To Whom and Why?

Özet: Organizational silence, which is defined as being employees remaining silent about their views, opinions and concerns about organizational problems, has recently started to receive due interest in organizational behavior literature. This phenomenon, which poses a great barrier to organizational change and development, is frequently experienced in many organizations. Organizational silence is a composition of various personal and organizational factors and thus has negative impacts and results on both individuals and organizations. This study is a qualitative research and has been conducted through face to face interviews with 10 employees who work at the marketing and export departments of a company active in automotive supply industry. Findings of the study suggest that employees experience the phenomenon of organizational silence and the causes that lead to it are in parallel with the ones elaborated on in the literature.