Blackwell Reference Online

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Workers' participation in management (WPM), also known as organizational democracy, is a broad concept which covers a wide variety of institutional arrangements. Definitions abound, many ideologically loaded. At the minimum it is a process which allows employees to exert some influence over their work and the conditions under which they work. Over the years WPM has been advocated on a variety of grounds ( Dachler & Wilpert 1978 ; Heller et al. 1998 ). One is political : left wingers see it as a means of power-sharing, specifically of strengthening working-class power at the expense of capitalist management ( Couch & Pizzorno 1978 ). A second is managerial . Widespread participation, it is argued, results in better decisions. Workers are more likely to carry out decisions they made themselves. Moreover, WPM improves communications, reduces the need for supervision, and overall motivates workers to work harder and more efficiently. The final arguments are humanistic or psychological . The claim is that by contributing to personal growth and satisfying non-pecuniary needs (including those for autonomy, creativity, achievement, and social approval) WPM reduces alienation and enhances human dignity. Power equalization arguments were common in the 1960s and 1970s, especially in Europe and among leftist student groups. With the decline of the left, these are made less commonly ... log in or subscribe to read full text