Exploring organisational dissent in the online setting : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Organizational Communication at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand

Abstract

Online organisational dissent is an emerging phenomenon in our digital world. It occurs when employees express disagreement or contradictory opinions about organisational practices, policies, and operations via the internet. Organisational dissent research has investigated face-to-face dissent, but online employee dissent is at an early stage. However, online organisational dissent can improve effective digital and cross-cultural communication. Miss Chen explored the digital communication issue and built the scholarship of conceptualizing online dissent. The main findings and implications include: a) illustrated face is an explanatory mechanism for organisational dissent; b) organisational assimilation serves as a conflict-ridden process for dissent c) virtual organisational dissent relates more confidence in technology than fear of approaching communication; d) employees used the online platform to negotiate face in organisational dissent. This project contributes to our understanding of how online dissent is influenced by different psychological and cultural factors such as face concerns and anxiety in computer-mediated communication.