Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- I Recent theories of democracy and the ‘classical myth’
- II Rousseau, John Stuart Mill and G. D. H. Cole: a participatory theory of democracy
- III The sense of political efficacy and participation in the workplace
- IV ‘Participation’ and ‘democracy’ in industry
- V Workers' self-management in Yugoslavia
- VI Conclusions
- Bibliography
- Index
IV - ‘Participation’ and ‘democracy’ in industry
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2014
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- I Recent theories of democracy and the ‘classical myth’
- II Rousseau, John Stuart Mill and G. D. H. Cole: a participatory theory of democracy
- III The sense of political efficacy and participation in the workplace
- IV ‘Participation’ and ‘democracy’ in industry
- V Workers' self-management in Yugoslavia
- VI Conclusions
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Although the notion of ‘participation’ is widely used by writers on management topics it is, in many cases, left undefined, or if a definition is offered, that definition is very imprecise. McGregor (1960, p. 124), for example, after remarking that ‘participation is one of the most misunderstood ideas that have emerged from the field of human relations’, goes on to say that participation
consists basically in creating opportunities under suitable conditions for people to influence decisions affecting them. That influence can vary from a little to a lot … [participation] is a special case of delegation in which the subordinate gains greater control, greater freedom of choice, with respect to his own responsibilities. The term participation is usually applied to the subordinate's greater influence over matters within the superior's responsibilities (pp. 126 and 130).
Another typical definition of ‘participation’ is:
participation is any or all of the processes by which employees other than managers contribute positively towards the reaching of managerial decisions which affect their work (Sawtell, 1968, p. 1).
A third definition states that participation in decision making is:
the totality of such forms of upward exertions of power by subordinates in organisations as are perceived to be legitimate by themselves and their superiors (Lammers, 1967, p. 205).
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- Information
- Participation and Democratic Theory , pp. 67 - 84Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1970
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