Restriction to the area of job freedom

Participation for deciding a course of action in an

ABM-83
Prerequisite for Participation

organization can take place only within the groups

area of job freedom

Contingency factors

Adequate time to participate

There must be time to participate before action is

As with the use of many behavioral ideas, several

contingency factors influence the success of
participative programs

required.

Potential benefits greater than costs

Ex: employees cannot spend so much time
participating that they ignore their work.

Differing employee needs for participation

Some employees desire more participation than others.

Relevance to employee interests

The subject of participation must be relevant and
interesting to the employee.

Adequate employee abilities to deal with the

subject
The participants should have the ability, such as
intelligence and technical knowledge to participate.

Ex: of the people:

Educated

Higher-level workers

-when employees want more participation than they have,

participatively deprived
(Underparticipation)
-when they have more participation than they want, they are,
participatively rated

Mutual employee abilities to deal with the subject

The participants must be mutually able to
communicate
No feeling to threat to either party
Neither party should feel that its position is threatened
by participation.

(Overparticipation)

Responsibilities of employees and manager

Be fully responsible for their actions and their
consequences
Operate within the relevant organizational policies

Be contributing team members

Respect and seek to use the perspectives of others
Be dependable and ethical in their empowered actions
Demonstrate responsible self-leadership

Voluntary groups that receive training in statistical techniques

and problem solving skills and then meet to produce ideas for
improving productivity and working conditions are known as
quality circles.

Total quality management

Managers:
Identifying the issues to be addressed
Specifying the level of involvement desired
Providing relevant information and training

The TQM approach gets every employee involved in the

process of searching for continuous improvements in their
operations.

Self-managing teams

Allocating fair rewards

Programs for participation

Sometimes called semi-autonomous work groups or

sociotechnical teams. Managing teams are natural work groups
that are given a large degree of decision making autonomy;
they are expected to control their own behavior and results.

Employee ownership plans

Suggestion programs

Employee ownership of emerges when employees provide the

capital to purchase control of an existing operation.

A formal plans to invite individual employees to recommend

work improvements.

Quality emphasis

Organized groups of workers and their managers into

committees to consider and solve job problems.

GROUPS:

Work committees
Labor-management committees
Work improvement task forces

Quality circles

Important considerations in participation

Labor Union Altitudes toward Participation

The opposite point of view, held by more progressive leaders, is

that participation gives them an opportunity to get on the inside
and to express their view points before action is taken, which is
superior to disagreement and protest after a decision is made.

Limitation of participation

Figure 8-9
Forces affecting the lesser
used of participation
Theory X beliefs by managers

Lack of supports from higher

level
Managerial fear of lost
Power
Status
Control

Lack of adequate training for

Managers
Employees

Problems encountered in early

stages

P
A
R
T
I
C
I
P
A
T
I
O
N

Substantial efforts needed to

implement

Managerial Concerns about Participation

-Some managers have difficulty adjusting to their new roles in
a high-involvement system.

Prepared by: Maricel C. Baran

Jocelyn Murio