It is argued that policy makers, in government especially, use crude output measures such as the link with performance to argue the case for, or more often against, employee participation. The paper considers the problems associated with the use of such crude output measures but argues that researchers cannot avoid the question of what impact participation has on organizational effectiveness. Data from a universal survey of companies given in-depth assistance by ACAS are used to show that, according to managers directly involved, a particular form of participation, the joint working party, has a strong positive benefit to the organisation. This was true of both union and non-union firms. This has important policy implications.
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