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Voice, Silence and the Business of Construction: Loud and Quiet Voices in the Construction of Personal, Organizational and Social Realities

Denise Fletcher

University of Sheffield Management School, Sheffield, UK

Tony Watson

Nottingham University Business School, Nottingham University, Nottingham, UK

An ethnographically based narrative about the interactions and relationships of people involved with a small construction business is used to examine the interplay of voice and silence in organizations in a way which goes beyond some of the limitations of recent work on this topic. In place of the current literature’s emphasis on the motives behind individuals’ speaking up or staying quiet, a relational analysis is developed which gives full recognition to the emergent, day-to-day routine and contextual aspects of organization. The lives and relationships of a set of characters in a small building company are portrayed and their voices heard. There are loud voices, quiet voices and silences, all of which play a part in the way these people deal with the everyday realities of small communities, family life and organizational power.

Key Words: construction industry • employment relations • ethnography • narrative • organizational voice and silence • small business • social construction

Organization, Vol. 14, No. 2, 155-174 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1350508407074221
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