What Is Participation? A Review of the Literature and Some Methodological Problems

Loveridge, Ray

doi:10.1111/j.1467-8543.1980.tb01028.x

Cited by 15 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 11 publications

(2 reference statements)

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“…In this situation, workers expressed a great many ambivalent and negative sentiments about their work. This lack of increased worker participation in high technology settings may also provide support for Loveridge's contention that worker participation is a fleeting and partial occurrence at the workplace, even under the best of circumstances [36].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Skills and job commitment in high technology industries in the US

Hodson

Hagan

1988

New Technol Work Employ

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This article, based on a study of workers, engineers and managers in a sample of high technology firms in the US, suggests extensive skill dislocation, labour market segmentation and a lack of participation in production decisions. There is a crisis of organisation and commitment among employees in such firms.The introduction of new electronic-based technology is having an important effect on the character of work in modern society. The nature of this effect, however, is little understood. This article investigates the consequences of high technology production systems for skill content, for labor market segmentation, for organizational structure, and for the feelings workers derive from working in such settings. Our analysis is based on in-depth interviews with a sample of workers, engineers, and managers in a variety of high technology settings. This approach avoids two problems associated with secondary data analysis: 1. the inability of general social surveys to investigate more focused topics intensively, and 2. the dated nature of much secondary data. It is important at this point to define what we mean by 'high technology' industries. Conceptually, high technology can be defined by continuous flow technology, by flexibility, by a low division of labor, and by the production of customized products for a differentiated market.Two major criteria have been used to empirically specify high technology industries: 1. the ratio of research and development 2. the ratio of engineers and scientists to Selecting on both these criteria, the HighTech Research Group identifies eighteen high technology industries [l]. These industries include electronics manufacturing (eg electronic components and communications equipment), non-electrical manufacturing (eg drugs, plastics, and aerospace), and high technology services (eg data processing and engineering and architectural services). All of the companies in our sample operate within these eighteen industries.We will briefly review and highlight existing findings on skill acquisition and retention, labor market segmentation, and organizational structure in high technology settings, before presenting our own results.expenditures to sales, and other occupations.0 Randy Hodson is Associate Professor of Sociology at Indiana University and Jacqueline Hagan is an advanced graduate student in Sociology and Demography at the University of Texas.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Skills and job commitment in high technology industries in the US

Hodson

Hagan

1988

New Technol Work Employ

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“…What conditions are necessary, then, for participation to be successful? Loveridge [12] used Walker's analysis, which argues that there are two elements to workers' participation (see Figure 1):…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Contracting Out in the NHS

Mailly

1986

Employee Relations

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The provision of services by private contractors in the National Health Service rather than by direct labour is not a recent phenomenon. Certain services, eg. the erection and repair of buildings, have been performed by contractors in the majority of health authorities. In some instances, catering and domestic services have been performed by outside contractors for a number of years (although this has been the case only in a very small minority of hospitals). What is novel is a policy which says health authorities must invite companies to tender competitively against their own in‐house services, and choose the tender which is the least costly.

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“…As Loveridge (1980) points out, Walker is working within the tradition of the contingency theorist where "potential for participation arises out of structural conditions which facilitate or impede labour-management interaction, influence and information exchange in conditions of openness and trust, and propensity to participate is defined in terms of the ability (knowledge and skills) of the actors to take part in managerial decision-making and their willingness to do so" (p.298). The contingency perspective is related to a "logic of efficiency" (Marchington and Loveridge, 1983, p.73) in that for any participation scheme to be acceptable to management it must Walker's model is relatively straightforward and clear but, Loveridge (1980) considers, may oversimplify the complexity of the interaction between structure and belief, potential and propensity:…”

Section: Determinants Of Participationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…If many decisions are taken outside, this limits the potential for workers' involvement in such decisions. Loveridge (1980, p.302) While agreeing with this, Loveridge (1980) claims that nonetheless, it is clear that "the design of certain forms of plant and machinery sets limits to the range of associated tasks, and to the knowledge, skills and other inputs that go into them" (p.303). Equally, the technical system will affect the social system, the extent to which people work in groups or separately.…”

Section: (I) Autonomymentioning

confidence: 99%