Freedom of Speech: Construct for Creating a Culture Which Empowers Organizational Members

Abstract

Empowering organizational members through the process of freedom of speechmay be one of the most effective (and probably least expensive) ways to energizea workforce to excel and for motivating workers to meet the challenges of the21st century. Implicit in this statement are conceptualizations of empowerment,freedom of speech, and organizational culture. Empowerment "is all aboutattitude and persuasion," and its ultimate goal "is in the institutionalization ofinnovations resulting in social changes for the better"(Takata, 1991, p. 255).Freedom of speech allows for the free exchange of ideas among people and helpsto create a more informed populace, who share information, ideas, beliefs,attitudes, and who enhance their roles as informed participants in the marketplace of ideas. The study of organizational culture attempts to discover the"sense-making" means used by people to function in an organization. Thesethree concepts - empowerment, freedom of speech, and organizational culture-form the theoretical foundation for the present analysis which concludes thatfree and responsible speech, vigorously encouraged and promoted as part of theorganizational culture, offers the most productive solution for preparing organizational members to meet the challenges of the next century.

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