CHAPTER IV
Partidpation' and 'demoaacy' in industry
Although the notion of 'participation' is widely used by writen on management topics it is, in many cases, left undefined, or if a definition is offered, that definition is very imprecise. McGregor (1960, p. 124), for example, after remarking that 'participation is one of the most misunder stood ideas that have emerged from the field of human relations', goes on to say that participation
consists basically in creating opportlmities under suitable conditions for people to influence decisions affecting them. That influence can vary from a little to a lot… [participation] is a special case of delegation in which the subordinate gains greater control, greater freedom of choice, with respect to his own responsibilities. The term participation is usually applied to the subordinate's greater influence over matten within the superior's responsibilities (pp. 126 and 130).
Another typical definition of'participation' is:
participation is any or all of the processes by which employees other than managen contribute positively towards the reaching of managerial decisions which affect their work (Sawtell, 1968, p. 1).
A third definition states that participation in decision making is:
the totality of such forms of upward exertions of power by subordinates in organisations as are perceived to be legitimate by themselves and their superiors (Lammers,1967, p. 205).
Likert is an example of a writer who does not offer a definition of participation, but he and McGregor put forward a continuum of situations to which the term 'participation' can be applied; or rather, a continuum which ranges from a situation of'a little' participation to 'a lot'. 'A little' participation in McGregor's continuum is a situation where subordinates can question a manager about his decision, and at the opposite end one where the superior is indifferent to several alternatives so that employees can choose between them (1960, pp. 126-7). The continuum presented by Liken (1961) covers a rather wider range of possibilities; from a situation of'little participation'-'no information given to employees, either about the current situation or in advance of proposed changes' - to the situation where 'subordinates and leader functioning as a group tackle the problem and solve it, using the best available methods for group functioning' (p.243).
To include such a very wide range of authority situations under the general heading of'participatory' is to obscure the issues involved; for the notion of participation to be at all useful in dealing with the problems involved in industrial democracy (or with general management problems) a much more rigorous analysis must be attempted. There is one definition available, however, which does enable a start to be made in this direction and some useful distinctions drawn. French. Israel and Aas (1960) say that 'participation' in the industrial sphere refers to 'a process in which two or more parties influence each other in making plans, policies or decisions. It is restricted to decisions that have future effects on all those making the decisions and on those represented by them.' This definition, they say, excludes the following situations : where an individual, A, merely takes part in a group activity; where A is merely given information on a decision affecting him before it is executed; where A is present at a meeting but has no influence (p. 3).
This definition makes clear that participation must be participation in something; in this case participation in decision making (cf. the definition in the participatory theory of democracy). Now in ordinary speech we do use the term 'participation' in a very wide sense to cover almost any situation where some minimal amount of interaction takes place, often implying little more than that a particular individual was present at a group activity. In the definition above this very wide sense is righdy excluded. The whole point about industrial participation is that it involves a modification, to a greater or lesser degree, of the orthodox authority structure; namely one where decision making is the 'prerogative’ of management, in which workers play no part. This is what is overlooked by many writers on management. In the definitions and 'continua' given above many situations are included that would be excluded by the French, Israel, Aas definition. That writers on management do not discriminate more carefully between different 'participatory’ situations is not surprising when one considers their reason for being interested in participation in the workplace. For them, it is jut one management technique among others that may aid the achievement of the overall goal of the enterpriseorganisational efficiency. Participation may, as we have seen, be effective in increasing efficiency, but what is important is that these writers use the term 'participation' to refer not just to a method of decision making, but also to cover techniques used to persuade employees to accept decisions that have already been made by the management. Situations of this type, where no participation in decision making in fact takes place, we shall, following Verba. call pseudo pariticipatiom. A typical example would be thesituation where the supervisor, instead of merdy telling the employees of a decision, allows them to question him about it and to discuss it. In fact, many of the so-called 'participation' experiments with small groups were of this form. As Verba points out, often the concern was not to set up . a situation where participation (in decision making) took place, but to create a feeling of participation through the adoption by the leader (supervisor) of a certain approach or style; 'participation' was thus 'limited to
member endorsements of decisions made by the leader who..is neitherselected by the group nor responsible to the group for his actions … thegroup leader, has a particular goal in mind and uses the group discussion as a means of inducing acceptance of the goal.' Verba adds that it is, in particular, in the field of industrial psychology that 'participatory leadership has become a technique of persuasion rather than of decision'.
Having distinguished situations of pseudo-participation, participation in decision making itself can now be examined more closely. Findy, it should be noted that if such participation is to take place then there is a necessary condition that must be met. That is, that employees must be in possession of the requisite information on which they can base their decision (cf. the quotation from Likert on p. 6s). This, of course, is obvious enough in theory, but in practice it would mean considerably more information being given to employees than is usually the case at present.
The definition that we have taken as a starting point cannot be accepted as it stands. It states that 'participation' is a process 'in which two or more parties influence each other in making … decisions'. In particular the use of the words 'influence' and 'parties' needs more examination. In the theory of participatory democracy 'political equality' refers to equality of political power in determining the outcome of decisions, and 'power', Laswell and Kaplan (1950, p. 75) have said, 'is participation in the making of decisions'. Although the terms 'influence' and 'power' are very closely related to each other they are not synonymous, and it is significant that, in the definitions quoted, the former is usually used. To be in a position to influence a decision is not the same thing as to be in a position to (to have the power to) determine the outcome or to make that decision. Following Partridge (1963), we can say that 'influence' is applicable to a situation where individual A affects individual B, without B subordinating his wishes to those of A (p. III).