Dialogue for Fostering Participation or Manipulation

Abstract

Dialogue is a communication form which enables open and honest communication between employees and management. Without dialogue there can be no exchange of information and ideas nor any shared understandings between labor and management. Dialogue leads to reflection of one’s perceptions, transference of knowledge and understanding, detection and correction of errors and generation of new ideas, and mental schemas and concepts. However, the role of dialogue and its overall effectiveness in designing democratic and collaborative working environments remains “curiously underexplored”. This article uses the power ideologies of Lukes and empirical data gathered in the form of interviews from the health care sector to understand the true purpose and agenda of dialogue in contemporary organizations.