ABSTRACT
This introductory chapter establishes the relevance of investigating the dynamics and challenges that underlie the ability of organizations to speak with one voice. It sets the stage for the arguments developed in the remaining chapters by focusing on the meanings of the voice metaphor in organizational communication studies and how issues of voice have been investigated. First, we introduce four related meanings of voice, each of which manifests to varying degrees in organizational communication studies: voice as sound, voice as style of expression, voice as discourse, and voice as agency. Second, we review key studies that have contributed to our understanding of issues of voice in organizational communication, which we group into three themes: (1) the organizing properties of speaking for a collective, (2) voice in relation to issues of power, and (3) the tensions between univocality and multivocality. We conclude by introducing the book's remaining chapters and their respective contributions to the investigation of how organizations create the conditions of unity necessary for their existence on the basis of the multiplicity of voices that compose them.
