Although the organizational theory and change literature are replete with intuitively reasonable descriptions concerning the potential effects of participation programs, few efforts have been made to empirically test participation theory. This article examines such theory via a longitudinal study in a naturalistic field setting. The primary intent is to examine the multidimensional organizational efforts that a participative change program lasting approximately 6 years with four separate measurement periods has on direct and indirect participants in contrast to the spontaneous changes in a comparison site. In addition to the delineation of the present study's methodology, results, and interpretation, a brief historical account of participation theory and a review of the empirical participation literature is provided. Contrasts with the comparison site indicate that the change program had beneficial effects for direct participants in the change program, some of which spilled over to other indirectly involved employees at the change site.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AGUREN, S., BREDBACKA, C., HANSSON, R., IHREGREN, K., & KARLSSON, K. G.Volvo Kalmar Revisited. Ten years of experience. Stockholm, Sweden: Trykert Balder, 1984.
2.
ARGYRIS, C.Integrating the individual and the organization. New York: Wiley, 1964.
3.
BLAUNER, R.Alienation and freedom. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1964.
4.
BRAG, J. E., & ANDREWS, R. I.Participative decision making: An experimental study in a hospital. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 1973, 9(6), 727-735.
5.
CAMMANN, C., FICHMAN, M., JENKINS, G. D., & KLESH, J.Michigan organizational assessment questionnaire. In S. E. Seashore, E. E. Lawler, P. H. Mirvis, and C. Cammann (Eds.), Assessing organizational change: A guide to methods, measures, and practices. New York: Wiley-Interscience, 1983, pp. 71-138.
6.
CAMPBELL, D. T., & STANLEY, J. C.Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for research. Chicago: Rand-McNally, 1966.
7.
COCH, L., & FRENCH, J. R. P.Overcoming resistance to change. Human Relations, 1948, 1, 512-532.
8.
COTTON, J. L., VOLLRATH, D. A., FROGGATT, K. L., LENGNICK-HALL, M. L., & JENNINGS, K. R.Employee participation: Diverse forms and different outcomes. Academy of Management Review, 1988, 13(1), 8-22.
9.
CUMMINGS, T. G., MOLLOY, E. S., & GLEN, R.A methodological critique of fifty-eight selected field experiments. Human Relations, 1977, 30, 675-708.
10.
DACHLER, H. P.The problem nature of participation in organizations: A conceptual evaluation. In B. King, S. Streufort, and F. E. Fiedler (Eds.), Managerial control and organizational democracy. New York: Wiley, 1978, pp. 17-29.
11.
DACHLER, H. P., & WILPERT, B.Conceptual dimensions and boundaries of participation in organizations: A critical evaluation. Administrative Science Quarterly, 1978, 23, 1-39.
12.
DURKHEIM, E.The division of labor in society. New York: MacMillan, 1933.
13.
FRENCH, J. R. P., ISRAEL, J., & As, D.An experiment on participation in a Norwegian factory. Human Relations, 1960, 13, 3-20.
14.
FRY, L. W., & HILLRIEGEL, D.The role and expectancy participation model: An empirical assessment and extension. Journal of Occupational Behaviour, 1987, 8(4), 295-309.
15.
GOODMAN, P.Assessing organizational change: The Rushton quality of work experiment. New York: Wiley-Interscience, 1979.
16.
GOODMAN, P. S., & DEAN, J. W.Creating long-term organizational change. In P. S. Goodman and Associates (Eds.), Change in organizationsSan Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1982, pp. 226-279.
17.
GREENBERG, E. S.The consequences of worker participation: A classification of the theoretical literature. Social Science Quarterly, 1975, 56(2), 191-209.
18.
GUZZO, R. A., & BONDY, J. S.Intervention programs and criteria for productivity. In R. A. Guzzo and J. S. Bondy (Eds.), A guide to worker productivity experiments in the United States: 1976-1981. New York: Pergamon, 1983, pp. 7-15.
19.
HAMMER, J. H.Decision-making policies and worker influences in employee owned firms. Paper presented at the American Psychological Association Annual Meeting, Toronto, 1978.
20.
HAUCK, W. C.The Volvo "solutions": Boon or boondoggle?Industrial Management, 1979, 21(1,2), 3-23.
21.
HERZBERG, F.Work and the nature of man, New York: World Publishing Co., 1966.
22.
HULIN, C. C., & BLOOD, M. R.Job enlargement, individual differences and worker responses. Psychological Bulletin, 1968, 69(1), 41-55.
23.
IVANCEVICH, J. M.Effects of goal setting on performance and job satisfaction. Journal of Applied Psychology, 1976, 61(5), 605-612.
24.
IVANCEVICH, J. M.Different goal setting treatments and their effects on performance and job satisfaction. Academy of Management Journal, 1977, 20(3), 406-419.
25.
KATZ, D.Satisfaction and deprivations in industrial life. In A. Kornhauser, R. Rubin, and A. M. Ross (Eds.), Industrial conflict. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1954, pp. 86-106.
26.
KATZELL, R. A., & YANKELOVICH, D.Work, productivity, and job satisfaction. New York: The Psychological Corporation, 1975.
27.
KENNY, D. A.Quasi-experimental approach to assessing treatment effects in the non-equivalent control group design. Psychological Bulletin, 1975, 82, 345-362.
28.
KOCHAN, T., & DYER, L.A model for organizational change in the context of labor-management relations. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 1976, 12, 56-78.
29.
LATHAM, G. P., & YUKL, G. A.Effects of assigned and participative goal setting on performance and job satisfaction. Journal of Applied Psychology, 1976, 61(2), 166-171.
30.
LAWLER, E. E., III. High-involvement management, San Francisco and London: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1986.
31.
LAWLER, E. E., & HACKMAN, J. R.Impact of employee participation in the development of pay incentive plans. Journal of Applied Psychology, 1969, 53(6), 467-471.
32.
LAWLER, E. E., & MOHRMAN, S. A.Quality circles after the fad. Harvard Business Review, 1985, 63(1), 65-71.
33.
LEWIN, K.Frontiers in group dynamics. Human Relations, 1947, 1, 5-41.
34.
LEWIN, K., LIPPITT, R., & WHITE, R. K.Patterns of aggressive behavior in experimentally created climates. Journal of Social Psychology, 1939, 10, 271-229.
35.
LISCHERON, J. A., & WALL, T. O.Employee participation: An experimental field study. Human Relations, 1975, 28(9), 863-884.
36.
LOCKE, E. A., & SCHWEIGER, D.Participation in decision making: One more look. In B. M. Staw (Ed.), Research in organization behavior (Vol. 1), Greenwich, Connecticut: JAI Press, 1979, pp. 265-339.
37.
LOCKE, E. A., SCHWEIGER, D. M., & LATHAM, G. P.Participation in decision making. Organizational Dynamics, 1986, 14(3), 65-79.
38.
LOWIN, A.Participative decision making: A model, literature critique and prescription for research. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 1968, 3, 68-106.
39.
MACY, B. A.The quality of work program and the TVA experiment. The University of Michigan, Institute for Social Research, March, 1976.
40.
MACY, B. A.The Bolivar quality of work program: Success or failure? In R. Zager and M. Rosow (Eds.), The innovative organization: Productivity programs in action. New York: Pergamon, 1982, pp. 184-221.
41.
MACY, B. A., & GRUTZ, R.Organizational change at Tennessee Valley Authority: The politics of international quality of work life conference. Presented to the First International Quality of Work Life Conference, Toronto, Canada, 1981.
42.
MACY, B. A., & MIRVIS, P. H.Organizational change efforts: Methodology for assessing organizational effectiveness and program costs versus benefits. Evaluation Review, 1982, 6(3), 301-372.
43.
MACY, B. A., & PETERSON, M. F.Evaluating attitudinal change in a longitudinal quality of work life intervention. In S. E. Seashore, E. E. Lawler, P. H. Mirvis, and C. Cammann (Eds.), Assessing organizational change: A guide to methods, measures, and practices. New York: Wiley-Interscience, 1983, pp. 453-476.
44.
MACY, B. A., IZUMI, H., & SMITH, R. R.Organizational change: A meta-analysis of North American field experiments. In R. Woodman and W. Pasmore (Eds.), Research in organizational change and development. JAI Press. Forthcoming.
45.
MARKS, M. L., MIRVIS, P. H., HACKETT, E. J., & GRADY, J. F.Employee participation in a quality circle program: Impact on quality of work life, productivity, and absenteeism. Journal of Applied Psychology, 1986, 71(1), 61-69.
46.
MARROW, A. J., BOWERS, D. G., & SEASHORE, S. E.Management by participation. New York: Harper & Row, 1967.
47.
MARX, K., & ENGELS, F.The manifesto of the Communist party (1848). In The essential left. New York: Barnes and Noble, 1961, pp. 747-747.
48.
MASLOW, A.Motivation and personality. New York: Harper and Row, 1954.
49.
McGREGOR, D.The human side of enterprise. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1960.
50.
MORSE, N. C., & REIMER, E.The experimental change of a major organizational variable. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 1956, 52, 120-129.
51.
NEIDER, C.An experimental field investigation utilizing an expectancy theory view of participation. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 1980, 26, 425-442.
52.
NURICK, A.Participation in organizational change: A longitudinal field study. Human Relations, 1982, 35, 413-430.
53.
PASMORE, W., & FRIEDLANDER, F.An action-research program for increasing employee involvement in problem solving. Administrative Science Quarterly, 1982, 27, 343-362.
54.
PEARSON, C. A. L.Participative goal setting as a strategy for improving performance and job satisfaction. A longitudinal evaluation with railway track maintenance gangs. Human Relations, 1987, 40(8), 473-488.
55.
PETERS, T. J.Thriving on chaos: Handbook for a management revolution. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1987.
56.
PETERSON, M., MACY, B.,.& PETERSON, S.Study of a quality of work life program: Organizational control, experienced influence and objective involvement. Group and Organization Studies, 1982, 7, 476-484.
57.
ROSEN, C.KLEIN, K. J., & YOUNG, K. M.Employee ownership in America: The equity solution. Lexington, Massachusetts: Lexington Books, 1986.
58.
ROSENBERG, R. D., & ROSENSTEIN, E.Participation and productivity: An empirical study. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 1980, 33(3), 355-367.
59.
ROSENTHAL, R.Meta-analytic procedures for social science. Beverly Hills, California: Sage Publications, 1984.
60.
SASHKIN, M.A manager's guide to participative management. New York: American Management Association, 1982.
61.
SASHKIN, M.Participative management is an ethical imperativeOrganizational Dynamics, 1984, 12(4), 4-21.
SHERWOOD, J.Creating work cultures with a competitive advantage. Organizational Dynamics, 1988, 16(3), 5-27.
64.
SKINNER, W.The anachronistic factory: Outdated methods of planning and managing plants necessitate profound changes to accommodate new values and expectations. Harvard Business Review, 1971, 47(1), 61-70.
65.
SKINNER, W.The focused factory: New approach to managing manufacturing sees our productivity crisis as the problem of "how to compete."Harvard Business Review, 1976, 52(3), 113-121.
66.
TANNENBAUM, A. S.Control in organizations. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1968.
67.
TANNENBAUM, A. S.Employee ownership. Project no. 99-6-09433, Economic Development Administration, United States Department of Commerce, Washington D.C., 1977.
68.
TANNENBAUM, A. S., & COOK, R. A.Organizational control: A review of studies employing the control graph method. In P. L. Hickson and C. J. Lammers (Eds.), Organization alike and unlike. London: Row, Hedge and Kegan, 1982, pp. 183-210.
69.
TANNENBAUM, A. S., KAVCIC, B., ROSNER, M., VIANELLO, M., & WEISER, G.Hierarchy in organizations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1974.
70.
THE TEXAS CENTER FOR PRODUCTIVITY AND QUALITY OF WORK LIFE. Selected work innovation articles. Available from Barry A. Macy, Texas Center for Productivity and Quality of Work Life, College of Business Administration, Texas Tech University, P.O. Box 4320, Lubbock, Texas 79409.
71.
TRIST, E. L., SUSMAN, G. I., & BROWN, G. R.An experiment in autonomous working in an American underground coal mine. Human Relations, 1977, 30, 201-236.
72.
VROOM, V. H.Some determinants of the effects of participation. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1960.
73.
WALTON, R. E.From control to commitment: Transforming work force management in the United States. Paper presented to Harvard Business School's 75th Anniversary Colloquium on Technology and Productivity, 1984.
74.
WALTON, R. E.From control to commitment in the workplace. Harvard Business Review, 1985, 63(2), 77-84.
75.
WHITE, D. D., & BEDNAR, D. A.Locating problems with quality circles. National Productivity Review, 1984/1985, 4(1).
