Abstract
Employee voice is a long-standing practice in human resource management (HRM) associated with high-performance work. Knowledge-intensive organizations depending on highly skilled employees are expected to promote voice, yet research suggests that cultural differences within teams may weaken voice. To offer new theoretical understanding of what govern voice in knowledge intensive and cross cultural workplaces we analyze 58 vignette interviews with highly skilled internationals, their managers, and employee representatives working in cross-cultural teams across 8 MNCs. The findings reveal key individual voice norms reliant on skills, but also show how these are mediated and balanced by inter-culturalism and collective team voice norms. This research contributes to the voice and HRM literature by providing a deeper theoretical understanding of how skills and culture interact and shape voice in multicultural teams, with implications for fostering more inclusive and effective HRM practices in MNCs.