Participatory management
Encyclopedia
Participatory management is the practice of empowering
employees to participate in organizational decision making
. This practice grew out of the human relations movement in the 1920s, and is based on some of the principles discovered by scholars doing research
in management
and organization studies, such as the Hawthorne Effect
.
While senior managers still retain final decision making authority
when participatory management is practiced, employees are encouraged to voice their opinions about their working conditions in a safe environment, protected from the potential defensiveness of middle managers who they might criticize.
In the 1990s, participatory management was revived in a different form through advocacy of organizational learning
practices, particularly by clients and students of Peter Senge
.
There is some criticism of participatory management (see Heckscher, below), particularly because it is difficult to combine this practice with a more financially oriented approach to restructuring
that may require downsizing.
Heckscher, Charles. 1995. "The Failure of Participatory Management", Across the Board 54 (Nov/Dec 1995): 16-21.
The Foundation for Development Cooperation - Provider of effective Participatory Project Management Training Workshops in the Asia-Pacific Region
Empowerment
Empowerment refers to increasing the spiritual, political, social, racial, educational, gender or economic strength of individuals and communities...
employees to participate in organizational decision making
Decision making
Decision making can be regarded as the mental processes resulting in the selection of a course of action among several alternative scenarios. Every decision making process produces a final choice. The output can be an action or an opinion of choice.- Overview :Human performance in decision terms...
. This practice grew out of the human relations movement in the 1920s, and is based on some of the principles discovered by scholars doing research
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
in management
Management
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
and organization studies, such as the Hawthorne Effect
Hawthorne effect
The Hawthorne effect is a form of reactivity whereby subjects improve or modify an aspect of their behavior being experimentally measured simply in response to the fact that they know they are being studied, not in response to any particular experimental manipulation.The term was coined in 1950 by...
.
While senior managers still retain final decision making authority
Authority
The word Authority is derived mainly from the Latin word auctoritas, meaning invention, advice, opinion, influence, or command. In English, the word 'authority' can be used to mean power given by the state or by academic knowledge of an area .-Authority in Philosophy:In...
when participatory management is practiced, employees are encouraged to voice their opinions about their working conditions in a safe environment, protected from the potential defensiveness of middle managers who they might criticize.
In the 1990s, participatory management was revived in a different form through advocacy of organizational learning
Organizational learning
Organizational learning is an area of knowledge within organizational theory that studies models and theories about the way an organization learns and adapts....
practices, particularly by clients and students of Peter Senge
Peter Senge
Peter Michael Senge is an American scientist and director of the Center for Organizational Learning at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He is known as author of the book The Fifth Discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization from 1990...
.
There is some criticism of participatory management (see Heckscher, below), particularly because it is difficult to combine this practice with a more financially oriented approach to restructuring
Restructuring
Restructuring is the corporate management term for the act of reorganizing the legal, ownership, operational, or other structures of a company for the purpose of making it more profitable, or better organized for its present needs...
that may require downsizing.
External links
Barle, Phil. website: Participatory Management module: Methods to Increase Staff Input in Organizational Decision Making.Heckscher, Charles. 1995. "The Failure of Participatory Management", Across the Board 54 (Nov/Dec 1995): 16-21.
The Foundation for Development Cooperation - Provider of effective Participatory Project Management Training Workshops in the Asia-Pacific Region