Participation in Organizations

I read an article in the Journal of Change Management describing participation in organization. The article states that participation is believed to have a number of positive effects on the strategy process. People who get involved with their organization are more invested. This will reduce organizational resistance to change and create a higher level of psychological commitment to new changes. The article looked at organizations before and after the change process occurred.

Without going into huge detail, the article discusses a study in which this hypothesis was tested. The outcomes of the study is what is important. The research supported the positivity of participation on the strategy process. The second most important fact gleaned from this study was that the results indicated that the collaborative climate generated by an authentic invitation to participate as a full member of the project team is the key mediating factor that link participation to implementation success.

This study fully supports Hatch's theory of strategy implementation within the rational model. Strategy implementation consists of the mobilization of allocated resources to achieve desired outcomes and involves three supporting rules. The rules are: resource allocation to support the selected alternative, the development of control systems to measure and assess performance and provide feedback to management, and the creating of structures and human resource policies with respect to training and rewards to support the chosen strategy.

Each person within the organization participates in the choosing of the strategy. From there, management decides on a course of action, and everyone works together to achieve the goal. The entire organization becomes invested in the change it is making. Often, implementation in practice is problematic because not everyone can agree on a chosen path to implementation. However, when a consensus is made, it is much more easy to fully participate in organizational change rather. Even if higher management chooses the ultimate path to implementation, it is acceptable as long as they listen to the other employees and discuss measures with them rather than without consultation.
An organization that chooses to listen to its employees and makes decisions with them instead of for them is an organization that will succeed.

Posted by Anne W.

Organization Theory: Modern, Symbolic, and Postmodern Perspectives, Mary Jo Hatch, Oxford University Press, 1997.

Lines, R. (2004). Influence of participation in strategic change: resistance, organizational commitment and change goal achievement. Journal of Change Management. 4(3), p. 193-215.