Student Research Participative Management
By Michael Rivera
Nov 10, 2008 - 10:19:11 AM
Conceptual Overview
The
theory behind participative management originated in the 1930s as a result of a
business study conducted by Elton Mayo, who explored Frederick W. Taylor’s
scientific management principles. His findings challenged Taylor’s views, which emphasized the
importance of social norms, such as communication, participation, and
leadership (Marchant 1976). Decades later, renewed interest in participative
management hinged upon the desire for seeking better management practices,
namely top-notch quality management systems, better employee relations, and
integrated design and production teams (Lawler 1996). Lawler’s (1990) research
outlines the benefits in quantifiable terms:
• improved, more innovative and
efficient work methods and procedures
• better communication between
management and workers across work units
• attraction and retention of
employees
• reduced tardiness, turnover, and
absenteeism
• greater staffing flexibility
• increased service and product
quality
• higher productivity and output
• reduced staff support and
supervision requirements
• more effective resolution of
conflict and reduced number of grievances
• better decisions
• expansion of staff skills
• improved morale and job
satisfaction
Collectively,
participative management goals provide competitive advantages for public and
private sector organizations. Numerous Japanese companies served as a shining
example of this business philosophy in the 1970s. Japanese organizations that
followed this course became the international model for enhancing product
quality and employee productivity by adopting group-work, team-consciousness,
quality circles, and decision-emerging processes that led to greater economic
impact (Beer et al. 1990). Toward instituting these practices in the United States,
the 1980s experienced a dramatic expansion in the variety of employee
participation efforts, as well as the number of organizations willing to apply
participative management strategies (Branch 2002).
The
view of participative management in America has evolved into an organic
and comprehensive governance system of its own—one that replaces the more
traditional and rigid bureaucratic hierarchy. Hierarchical structures are not
well suited for organizations that manage knowledge-intensive tasks. In
Lawler’s (1996) view, new logic structures must arise to fully embrace
participative management (e.g., organizations designed around structures versus
organizations designed around products and structures; effective managers as
key to organizational effectiveness versus effective leadership as key to
organizational effectiveness). Conversion into a participative organization is
seen as a way for an organization to build key capabilities essential for
success in a contemporary organizational environment (McLagan and Nel 1995;
Bartlett and Ghoshal 1991; Case 1998).
Critical Commentary
Participative
management is not without its negatives.
There are many hurdles a company would have to overcome in order to
instill an environment that can thrive using participative management. Some employees do not want the responsibility
of decision making. They are happy just
doing what they are told to do. Other
employees are not educated or experienced enough to help make decisions. These employees would need to be
trained. Some employees will feel that
with the increased responsibility of decision making should come an increase in
salary. Both training and salary changes
will cost the company money (Branch 2002).
Increasing the
number of people involved in the decision making process can lead to an
increase in the time it takes to make those decisions. It is much quicker for one person to make a
decision than for a group of people to fully share their opinions and come to a
consensus on a topic. Branch tells of
the lost time due to having a number of people who must understand and accept
the decision.
Middle and high
level management can also be a hurdle to implementing participative
management. Some managers will not
easily accept the transfer of power to the masses. They will fear losing
control. Others may have never
experienced such a system. Leading a
change in culture is difficult, and leaders must be ready to make a multiple
year commitment (Simmons 1990).
Simmons also states that making a change that affects the very core of a
culture is more difficult than launching a new product or establishing a new
division, yet it is rarely given the same energy or resources as those
tasks. People are resistant to change,
especially if the system they are currently using works.
Summary and Conclusion
Some people such
as Dennis Collins argue that “…workplace democracy is inevitable.” While this is not a proven movement, more and
more companies are giving participative management a chance. McNabb and Whitfield find that larger
establishments that are part of big organizations have a strong willingness to embrace
different forms of employee participation.
Also, workplaces that have been recently established and those that make
use of advanced technology are more likely to have introduced some form of
employee participation schemes.
As new companies
enter the organizational fray and technology based companies and services
continue to multiply, it is a reasonable assumption that they will make use of
proven organizational systems. New
organizations will have an easier time instilling the culture of participative
management, than older organizations that have to go through a change in
culture. With more studies being conducted on the success of organizations that
use participative management, new organizations will more be more likely to
adopt this form of management into their core values.
References
Bartlett,
C.A., and
Ghoshal, S. (1991). Matrix Management: Not a Structure, a Frame of
Mind. In
Participative Management. P. 23–30. Cambridge: Harvard Review
Paperback.
Beer, M., Eisenstat, R.A., and Spector, B. (1990).
The Critical Path to Corporate
Renewal. Boston:
Harvard Business School
Press.
Branch, Kristi M.
2002.
ParticipativeManagement and Employee and Stakeholder
Involvement.
Case, J. (1998).
The
Open-Book Experience: Lessons from Over 100 Companies Who