Some Social Psychological Effects of Direct and Indirect Participation in Ten Swedish Companies

Abstract

Sweden has introduced schemes of participation widely in its industrial and business organizations. We present in this article data concerning some of the social psychological effects of two forms of participation, indirect and direct, in ten Swedish factories. Indirect participation entails decision making through representatives of the employees; direct participation entails decision making by the employees them selves. Theories propose that participation has the effect of enhancing member reactions such as sense of commitment, favourable attitude and satisfaction in the company and of reducing dysfunctional reactions such as absenteeism. The data from these companies appear consistent with the above theories insofar as direct participation is concerned but not with respect to indirect participation. The data support the view that participation is likely to have the predicted effects on the reactions of members to the extent that participation is felt as a personal experience. Members are likely to feel committed and satisfied, first and foremost to the extent that they perceive themselves personally to have authority to make decisions; second, and in lesser degree, to the extent that they perceive their immediate work group to make decisions, and hardly at all to the extent that they perceive that decisions are made by representatives. These findings are consistent with conclusions drawn earlier by a number of researchers. They are inconsistent with the expectation underlying the laws of participation in Sweden (and in most other countries of Europe) insofar as these laws mandate indirect participation exclusively and are formulated with the expectation that such participation will have the positive psychological outcomes that many advocates of participation claim.