Previous research has examined the effect of participation in decision making on various psychological and managerial variables, but has often overlooked levels of analysis considerations. In this study, levels of analysis were considered explicitly from theoretical and empirical perspectives to better understand participation in decision making. In a first demonstration of a new method to the participation literature, results from Within and Between Analysis (WABA) suggested that relationships between participation in decision making and several job activities and employee outcomes were based on between-groups differences. Some support also was obtained for an individual view of the associations between participation in decision making and activities and outcomes.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Alutto, J. A.
, & Acito, F. (1974). Decisional participation and sources of job satisfaction: A study of manufacturing personnel. Academy of Management Journal, 17, 160-167.
2.
Alutto, J. A.
, & Belasco, J. A. (1972). A typology for participation in organizational decision-making. Administrative Science Quarterly, 17, 117-125.
3.
Alutto, J. A.
, & Vredenburgh, D. J. (1977). Characteristics of decisional participation by nurses. Academy of Management Journal, 20, 341-347.
4.
Avolio, B. J.
, Yamnmarino, F. J., & Bass, B. M. (1991). Identifying common methods variance with data collected from a single source: An unresolved sticky issue. Journal of Management, 17, 571-587.
5.
Bass, B. M.
(1990). Bass and Stogdill's handbook of leadership. New York: Free Press.
6.
Cotton, J. L.
, Vollrath, D. A., Froggatt, K. L., Lengnick-Hall, M. L., & Jennings, K. R. (1988). Employee participation: Diverse forms and different outcomes. Academy of Management Review, 13, 8-22.
7.
Cotton, J. L.
, Vollrath, D. A., Lengnick-Hall, M. L., & Froggatt, K. L. (1990). Fact: The form of participation does matter-A rebuttal to Leana, Locke, and Schweiger. Academy of Management Review, 15, 147-153.
8.
Dachler, H. P.
, & Wilpert, B. (1978). Conceptual dimensions and boundaries of participation in organizations: A critical evaluation. Administrative Science Quarterly, 23, 1-39.
9.
Dansereau, F.
(1989). A multiple level analysis perspective on the debate about individualism. American Psychologist, 44, 959-960.
10.
Dansereau, F.
, Alutto, J. A., & Yammarino, F. J. (1984). Theory testing in organizational behavior: The varient approach. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
11.
Dansereau, F.
, Graen, G., & Haga, W. J. (1975). A vertical dyad linkage approach to leadership within formal organizations: A longitudinal investigation of the role-making process. Organizational Behavior and Hunan Performance, 13, 46-78.
12.
Dansereau, F.
, & Markham, S. E. (1987). Levels of analysis in personnel and human resources management. Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management, 5, 1-50.
13.
Hrebiniak, L. G.
, & Alutto, J. A. (1972). Personal and role-related factors in the development of organizational commitment. Administrative Science Quarterly, 17, 555-573.
14.
Leana, C. R.
, Locke, E. A., & Schweiger, D. M. (1990). Fact and fiction in analyzing research on participative decision-making: A critique of Cotton, Vollrath, Froggatt, Lengnick-Hall, and Jennings. Academy of Management Review, 15, 137-146.
15.
Locke, E. A.
, & Schweiger, D. M. (1979). Participation in decision-making: One more look. Research in Organizational Behavior, 1, 265-340.
16.
Markham, S. E.
(1988). Pay-for-performance dilemma revisited: Empirical example of the importance of group effects. Journal of Applied Psychology, 73, 172-180.
17.
Miller, K. I.
, & Monge, P. R. (1986). Participation, satisfaction, and productivity: A meta-analytic review. Academy of Management Journal, 29, 727-753.
18.
Naughton, T. J.
, & Outcalt, D. (1988). Development and test of an occupational taxonomy based on job characteristics theory. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 32, 16-36.
19.
Sashkin, M.
(1976). Changing toward participative management approaches: A model and methods. Academy of Management Review, 1, 75-86.
20.
Schweiger, D. M.
, & Leana, C. R. (1986). Participation in decision-making. In E. A. Locke (Ed.), Generalizing from laboratory to field settings: Findings from research in industrial/organizational psychology, organization behavior and human resource management (pp. 147-166). Lexington, MA: D. C. Health.
21.
Spector, P. E.
(1986). Perceived control by employees: A meta-analysis of studies concerning autonomy and participation at work. Human Relations, 39, 1005-1016.
22.
Waldman, D. A.
, Yammarino, F. J., & Avolio, B. J. (1990). A levels of analysis investigation of training needs. Personnel Psychology, 43, 811-835.
23.
Yammarino, F. J.
, & Bass, B. M. (1990). Transformational leadership and multiple levels of analysis. Human Relations, 43, 975-995.
24.
Yammarino, F. J.
, & Dubinsky, A. J. (1990). Salesperson performance and managerially controllable factors: An investigation of individual and work group effects. Journal of Management, 16, 87-106.
25.
Yanunarino, F. J.
, Dubinsky, A. J., & Hartley, S. W. (1987). An approach for assessing individual versus group effects in performance evaluations. Journal of Occupational Psychology, 60, 157-167.
26.
Yammarino, F. J.
, & Naughton, T. J. (1988). Time spent communicating: A multiple levels of analysis approach. Human Relations, 41, 655-676.
