An Exploration of Employee Participation Using a Scaling Approach

Organizations considering having their employees participate in workplace decision making are faced with significant decisions about the nature and extent of activities in such programs. In general, the managerial literature provides mixed reviews on the success of these types of programs. The present study examines, by means of Rasch model analysis, the experiences of a large sample of organizations undertaking a variety of participation-related activities. The results suggest that there is an underlying relationship among differing employee participation activities, and, consequently, attention must be given to the processes used to choose and implement those activities.

[1]  R. Drazin,et al.  Autogenesis: A Perspective on the Process of Organizing , 1992 .

[2]  Raymond G. Hunt,et al.  Action teams in the total quality process: Experience in a job shop , 1992 .

[3]  J. Neyman,et al.  Proceedings of the Fourth Berkeley Symposium on Mathematical Statistics and Probability , 1963 .

[4]  J. Hackman,et al.  Impact of employee participation in the development of pay incentive plans: A field experiment. , 1969 .

[5]  T. P. Summers,et al.  Strategic Skills Analysis for Selection and Development , 1997 .

[6]  Benjamin D. Wright,et al.  Solving measurement problems with the Rasch model. , 1977 .

[7]  J. French,et al.  An Experiment on Participation in a Norwegian Factory , 1960 .

[8]  J. French,et al.  Overcoming Resistance to Change , 1948 .

[9]  G. Spreitzer.  PSYCHOLOGICAL EMPOWERMENT IN THE WORKPLACE: DIMENSIONS, MEASUREMENT, AND VALIDATION , 1995 .

[10]  G. Spreitzer.  Social structural characteristics of psychological empowerment , 1996 .

[11]  H. Simon,et al.  Observation of a Business Decision , 1956 .

[12]  E. B. Andersen,et al.  CONDITIONAL INFERENCE FOR MULTIPLE‐CHOICE QUESTIONNAIRES , 1973 .

[13]  Bob Carroll.  Speaking the language of empowerment: A tale of two teams , 1997 .

[14]  Georg Rasch,et al.  Probabilistic Models for Some Intelligence and Attainment Tests , 1981, The SAGE Encyclopedia of Research Design.

[15]  Paul J. H. Schoemaker,et al.  Strategy, Complexity, and Economic Rent , 1990 .

[16]  R. N. Kanungo,et al.  The Empowerment Process: Integrating Theory and Practice , 1988 .

[17]  D. Vollrath,et al.  Employee Participation: Diverse Forms and Different Outcomes , 1988 .

[18]  Herbert H. Meyer,et al.  Participation and the Appraisal System , 1966 .

[19]  B. Wright,et al.  The essential process in a family of measurement models , 1984 .

[20]  Human resource management and the bottom line: Evidence of the connection , 1984 .

[21]  Erling B. Andersen,et al.  Sufficient statistics and latent trait models , 1977 .

[22]  B. Bass,et al.  Some effects of decision and discussion on coalescence, change, and effectiveness. , 1958 .

[23]  Paul C. Nutt,et al.  Identifying and appraising how managers install strategy , 1987 .

[24]  G. Masters,et al.  Rating scale analysis , 1982 .

[25]  S. D. Saleh,et al.  The use of quality circles in the automobile parts industry , 1990 .

[26]  G. Rasch.  On General Laws and the Meaning of Measurement in Psychology , 1961 .

[27]  Leland Teschler,et al.  LESSONS FROM THE BEST , 1998 .

[28]  K. Thomas,et al.  Cognitive Elements of Empowerment: An “Interpretive” Model of Intrinsic Task Motivation , 1990 .

[29]  Edward E. Lawler,et al.  Choosing an Involvement Strategy , 1988 .

[30]  S. Zedeck.  High-Involvement Management. , 1989 .

[31]  J. Alexander,et al.  Images of Organization , 1988 .

[32]  G. H. Fischer,et al.  The linear logistic test model as an instrument in educational research , 1973 .

[33]  M. Shubik,et al.  A Behavioral Theory of the Firm. , 1964 .

[34]  Blake Ives,et al.  Executive Involvement and Participation in the Management of Information Technology , 1991, MIS Q..

[35]  F. Kramarz,et al.  Voice and Loyalty as a Delegation of Authority: A Model and a Test on Matched Worker‐Firm Panels , 1997, Journal of Labor Economics.

[36]  Paul C. Nutt,et al.  Tactics of Implementation , 1986 .

[37]  J. B. Ritchie,et al.  Participative Management: Quality vs. Quantity , 1971 .

[38]  J. Hackman,et al.  Relationships between organization structure and employee reactions: Comparing alternative frameworks , 1981 .

[39]  B. Wilpert,et al.  Conceptual dimensions and boundaries of participation in organizations: a critical evaluation. , 1978, Administrative science quarterly.

[40]  O. Williamson.  The Modern Corporation: Origins, Evolution, Attributes , 1981 .

[41]  Linda L. Neider,et al.  An experimental field investigation utilizing an expectancy theory view of participation , 1980 .

[42]  Edwin A. Locke,et al.  Fact and Fiction in Analyzing Research on Participative Decision Making: A Critique of Cotton, Vollrath, Froggatt, Lengnick-Hall, and Jennings , 1990 .

[43]  M. Safizadeh.  The Case of Workgroups in Manufacturing Operations , 1991 .

[44]  P. C. Nutt.  Formulation Tactics and the Success of Organizational Decision Making , 1992 .

[45]  R. Caves.  Industrial Organization, Corporate Strategy and Structure , 1980 .

[46]  S. Mezias,et al.  An Organizational Learning Model of Convergence and Reorientation , 1992 .

[47]  Terence R. Mitchell,et al.  Motivation and Participation: An Integration , 1973 .

[48]  Robert C. Ford,et al.  Empowerment: A matter of degree , 1995 .

[49]  E. Lawler.  High-Involvement Management , 1986 .

[50]  E. A. Locke,et al.  Participation in Decision-Making: One More Look , 1979 .

[51]  John A. Wagner,et al.  Shared influence and organizational behavior: A meta-analysis of situational variables expected to moderate participation-outcome relationships. , 1987 .

[52]  E. Johnsen.  Richard M. Cyert & James G. March, A Behavioral Theory of The Firm, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1963, 332 s. , 1964 .

[53]  Peter R. Monge,et al.  Participation, Satisfaction, and Productivity: A Meta-Analytic Review , 1986 .

[54]  B. Wright,et al.  Best test design , 1979 .

[55]  P. C. Nutt.  Types of organizational decision processes. , 1984, Administrative science quarterly.

[56]  Ken G. Smith,et al.  Organizational Information Processing, Competitive Responses, and Performance in the U.S. Domestic Airline Industry , 1991 .

[57]  James A. Belohlav,et al.  Quality, Strategy, and Competitiveness , 1993 .