A Study of Worker Participation in Management Decision Making Within Selected Establishments in Lagos, Nigeria Yusuf Noah Department of Sociology, University of Ilorin, Nigeria E-mail: noahsarkplc@yahoo KEYWORDS YWORDS Employees; Democracy; Involvement; Attitude; Work. ABSTRACT This paper is concerned with an investigation of the existing level of worker participation in management decision making within the Nigerian work environment. The study involved a survey in which a total of two hundred and twenty seven (217) non management employees drawn from two work organizations in Lagos (Flour Mills Nigeria Plc and Niger Insurance Plc) were used as subjects. Interview schedule and in-depth interview were the main research techniques adopted for data collection while percentage distribution and chi-square statistical techniques were used to analyze the data collected for the study. Results show that employees in both organizations demonstrate a high interest in participation in the decision making process within their respective work places. However, the actual level of involvement in management decision making demonstrated by the employees was found to be relatively low. There is significant relationship between education and employees’ involvement in decision making at Flour Mills Nigeria Plc. In Niger Insurance Plc, there is a significant relationship between age and employees’ involvement in decision making as well as between frequency of employees’ consultation and organizational commitment. The study reveals a growing desire of non-management employees in the Nigerian work environment to exercise greater involvement in the decision making process of their enterprises. INTRODUCTION The concept of worker participation represents a popular theme in the analysis of the world of work among scholars in the fields of Industrial Sociology, Industrial Relations as well as management. It refers to any arrangement which is designed to involve low cadre employees (workers) in the important decision making within the workplace. This implies that rather than saddling only a group within the enterprise (for instance, management) with the responsibility of making decisions, all those who are to be affected by these decisions (including the workers) would be involved in its formulation and implementation. In recent time, scholars have directed increasing attention to the issue of worker participation and its broader corollary, industrial democracy (Mankidy, 1984: Yesufu, 1984, Adewumi 1989; Verma and Syha; 1991, Weller 1993; Kester and Pinaud, 1996; Adu- Amankwah, K. and Kester, G. 1999). These concerns reflect a growing interest in finding ways to make work more meaningful and satisfying to the workers. This rest on the belief that the organizational goals of high productivity and harmonious industrial relations are best achieved when the higher level needs of the human elements (workers) are satisfied. Worker participation implies arrangements designed to involve workers in the enterprises decision making process. This allows for workers’ involvement in the initiation, formulation and implementation of decisions within the enterprise. The concept can also be understood in terms of a new approach to industry and society in which people want to be interested with the taking of decisions which have direct bearing on them. MacGregor (1960) contend that worker participation consists basically in creating opportunity under suitable conditions for people to influence decisions which affect them. It is a special case of delegation in which the subordinate gain greater control, greater freedom of choice with respect to bridging the communication gap between the management and the workers. This serves to create a sense of belonging among the workers as well as a conducive environment in which both the workers would voluntarily contribute to healthy industrial relations. The Problem The spread of democratic value to virtually every society today has brought the need to examine the implications of this trend to other spheres of life. With respect to economic sector, employees are faced with the dilemma of how to cope with authoritative management in the work places while living in a democratic society which guarantee basic fundamental freedom. In additio
Posted on: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 12:12:22 +0000
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