Worker Participation in Management in the Printing Industry

Abstract

Although there is now a considerable literature on worker participation in management, little attention has been paid to testing hypotheses derived from the theoretical and descriptive literature. The present study formulates a number of conjectures concerning the presence and effectiveness of participation at the workplace level, and uses a survey of the Australian printing industry to test them. The evidence suggests that management style and employee control over the organization of work are the most important variables in accounting for both the existence and effectiveness of most forms of participation. Participation must, however, be seen in the context of wider economic and political pressures that influence managerial choice in the conduct of workplace industrial relations.