Toward a Theory of Worker Participation

Abstract

This paper proposes that the emergence of shop-floor worker participation projects in many of the largest corporations in the United States has major theoretical interest because it points to a shift in the structure of American management from Taylorist forms of organization toward "post-Taylorist " systems based on "relative worker autonomy" and limited democratic organization on the shop floor. The postulated shift toward "relative worker autonomy" is explored, first, in terms of the contradictions and failures of Taylorism-specifically its failure to integrate workers or bind them effectively, either psychologically or ideologically, to their jobs and firms. While the costs of worker dis-integration have led management to initiate post-Taylorist labor control systems, an analysis of participative experiments suggests that these new systems produce new contradictions engender ing worker expectations and entitlements for democracy in the workplace. The analysis suggests the need for a reformulation of current theories of the capitalist labor process that can explain both the emergence of "integrative" labor systems based on participation and democratic legitimations and also the new forms of contestation they produce.

Articulating, antagonizing, and displacing: A model of employee dissent

“…Derber and Schwartz (1983) warned that participation will lead to inherent conflicts over domains of autonomy. They cautioned that workers may become frustrated when they begin to engage in empowering activities and recognize the limitations to such behavior.…”

“…Modern organizations have attempted to involve employees in workplace decisions (Derber & Schwartz, 1983;Pacanowksy, 1988;Westin, 1986). Organizational members have become more involved with their respective organizations as a result of organizational democracy (Cheney, 1995;Derber & Schwartz, 1983;Harrison, 1994;Vredenburgh & Brender, 1993;Westin, 1986), employee empowerment (Chiles & Zorn, 1995;EMPLOYEE DISSENT 313 Marshall & Stohl, 1993;Pacanowsky, 1988), and employee participation practices (Dachler & Wilpert, 1978;Derber & Schwartz, 1983;Strauss, 1982).…”

“…Participation can refer to: (a) organizational level, (b) degree of control, (c) spectrum of issues, and (d) ownership. Forms of participation can range from directly relinquishing some degree of control to workers to approaches that center upon stock ownership and employee representation (Derber & Schwartz, 1983). Perceptions and enactment of participation can vary tremendously.…”

Test of a communication model of organizational commitment

“…Miller and Monge (1986) and Derber and Schwartz (1983) have found that participatory involvement is positively correlated with job satisfaction and, to a lesser yet significant degree, with productivity. Participatory communicative behaviors are manifestations of commitment which in turn reinforce commitment attitudes.…”

Is Worker Solidarity Undermined by Autonomy and Participation? Patterns from the Ethnographic Literature

“…Workers usually prefer to participate directly only in decisions affecting their immediate work (Heckscher 1988), and to leave more general concerns to representative bodies like unions or work councils (Westenholz 1979;Miller and Fry 1977). Derber and Schwartz (1983) argued that participatory schemes may generate new conflicts between workers and management while also generating new bases of solidarity among workers.…”