By integrating the theory of purposeful work behavior with the person-environment (P-E) fit literature, we employ a bilateral approach to examine how employee-supervisor congruence in purposeful work striving (i.e., achievement striving) influences employee voice behavior via an internal motivation mechanism (i.e., organizational identification). Using polynomial regressions with response surface modeling, we analyze data from 827 employees and their 197 supervisors in two studies. The results show that achievement-driven employees are more likely to speak up when employee-supervisor achievement striving is congruent, regardless of whether it is high or low. Furthermore, employee-supervisor congruence in achievement striving enhances employees’ felt oneness with the organization and organizational identification, which in turn fuels their voice behavior. We conclude with theoretical and practical implications.

The early months of the COVID pandemic prompted a flood of research aimed at illuminating all facets of the disease and its spread. Scholars sought to create and assess practical interventions that ranged from vaccines to government lockdown policies to workplace practices. To date, there are nearly a half-million publications on the pandemic, and more are in process.

As I read Zhang and Chen's (2024) perspective paper, I was impressed with the authors' flexibility moving into the medical field and the impact of their research. Moreover, I agreed wholeheartedly with their call to learn by working across fields and with their assessment of how differently management and healthcare scholarship is created, disseminated, and used. Yet I was quite stumped by the editor's request that I suggest some ‘urgent and pressing’ issues that might help management scholars achieve the kind of practical relevance of medical researchers.