Democratic Management Research Articles

Algumas reflexões sobre a prática da gestão democrática na cultura e organização escolar

Some reflections on the practice of democratic management on school culture and organization The purpose of this paper is to discuss elements of school culture, rethinking some aspects related to the school, its organization and management. From a theoretical point of view, we present two perspectives to the discussion surrounding the macro and micro sphere: the weaknesses involving the field of democracy and cultural outreach that involves social practices, in this case, the management practices. The proposed discussion follows a dialectical perspective that seeks to capture the inherent contradictions in the educational 1 Professora efetiva da UFSCar, vinculada ao Departamento de Educacao e ao Programa de Pos-Graduacao em Educacao, atuando na linha de pesquisa Educacao Cultura e Subjetividade. Participa do Grupo de Estudos sobre Politicas e Gestao da Educacao (GEPGE), com pesquisas na area. mceluiz@gmail.com

Youth and Social Change in Dakar, Senegal: Intergenerational Differences and Power Battles in Local Mosques

Young people in the neighbourhood of Colobane in Dakar are significant political actors whose practices and discourses are co‐producing processes of change in a context of economic hardship and dissatisfaction with reigning elites. Youth are the most outspoken on the need for transparent, democratic and accountable politics. They openly criticise politicians, increasingly reject the practices of earlier generations and are more prone to questioning established authorities. In some of the mosques in Colobane, intergenerational differences and how young people struggle for influence and social change is particularly evident. Here, the discourse and aspiration towards democratic, accountable and transparent management politics and the questioning of habitual authority is manifest. These mosques have been arenas of intricate and silent power battles, as young men have been integrated in their management committees after challenging the previously automatic recognition of imams and notables in instances of mismanagement. When resourceful young men take on responsibilities and promote changes in religious, managerial and distributional issues, local mosques are experiencing intergenerational tensions and negotiations.

‘Doing power’ at work: Responding to male and female management styles in a global business corporation

In the literature on professional management, it is argued that female leaders prefer a more indirect, people-oriented, democratic management style, whereas male leaders are more likely to favor a direct, task-oriented and authoritarian approach. This paper reports on an empirical study of communication in business organizations, and the focus is on the actual sociolinguistic behaviour of male and female leaders performing similar tasks. Executive managers of both sexes in a large Danish corporation were asked to record themselves during a typical day at work while performing a range of tasks, such as giving directives to their staff and chairing meetings. The analyses show that both male and female leaders tend to prefer an indirect, normatively feminine management style. They also show that male leaders are more likely to use a wide verbal repertoire style drawing on elements in their speech that are both normatively male and normatively female. However, the most significant difference is how male and female leaders’ management styles are perceived and responded to by male and female employees. While the authority of male leaders is never questioned, several examples in the data show that female leaders are often challenged, and their authority questioned, by their male colleagues.

ORGANIZAÇÃO DO QUADRO SOCIAL (OQS): UMA INOVAÇÃO INSTITUCIONAL NA GESTÃO SOCIAL DE COOPERATIVAS

The OQS as democratic management strategy of a cooperative is a systematic process of communication and integration. This article aims to identify practical limits and the role of the Organization Programme (OQS) in creating an institutional environment conducive to social participation. The research was exploratory descriptivee character is a case study of farming cooperative in Campo Altos, Minas Gerais. Interviews, secondary data and observation participant were used to achieve the results, which indicate that the perception of cooperated in relation to the exercise of power (centered) is a factor that inhibits participation, generating demotivation. Restricted access to information on the part of cooperated was a barrier to OQS, as well as the lack of identification and ownership of proposals cooperatives. It was concluded that the institutional change promoted by OQS generates a change in identified correlations before, but in turn, demand the involvement of all cooperated and qualified professionals to deal with complex cooperative organization management. Key-Words: Organization. Democratic administration. Integration. Cooperative.

A configuração da docência expressa no projeto pedagógico do curso de Pedagogia: um estudo de caso

This article reflects on how the concept of teaching proposed in the Brazilian National Curriculum Guidelines - DCNP 2006 - for the Pedagogy Course and supported especially by Anfope (National Association for the Education of the Professionals of Education) is set in the Teaching Project of the pedagogy course of a public Institution of Higher Education. The qualitative research, in the form of an instrumental case study (André, 2005) included document analysis and semi-structured interviews, as well as the constant review of the literature. The configuration of teaching as a national common ground implies the confluence of a set of principles that should guide the curriculum. It should include: the relation between theory/practice and the emphasis on research and knowledge production; solid theoretical formation and interdisciplinary; democratic management; social political and ethical commitment; collective and interdisciplinary work and the incorporation of the concept of continuing education. From the analysis of the data collected, it was concluded that the configuration of teaching in the Pedagogy Course researched is based on the above principles which led to: restructuring the curriculum and academic activities; resizing of contents; introduction of new teaching methods; engaging students in their future working context since the early years; interdisciplinary thought and action; unity theory-practice. However, it should be emphasized that much of the individual and collective work of teachers is responsible for the successful development of teaching as a common base -articulated to research and the management of the Pedagogy Course studied.

Gestão Democrática do Ensino: Uma Escola Cidadã no Contexto Amazônico

This article is based on research whose aim was to investigate how a democratic management, understood as plural space for position sharing and conflit negotiation, has actually been carried our in public schools in Manacapuru, Amazonas State – Brazil. The text analyses educational Brazilian policy especially on democratic management of the elementary schools, taking into account how the principles of autonomy and participation in a democratic management have materialized day-to-day in school life. The issue s part of a much broader context which includes ongoing efforts toward democratization in the country. As a result of fighting for universalizing the right to public school and quality of teaching. Since then, democratic management is able to make immediate decisions into the conquest of the school and the society structures. It is worthy to note that, despite advancements made by the school system to effect a democratic management, there are still several challenges in overcoming centralized and authoritarian practices still existing in public management.

Health and Democratic Management: a critical analysis of the Health Councils

In this article we intend to structure a reflection on some contradictions inherent to the process of incorporation of the institutional spaces of social control in health care policy, identifying the counterarguments that pervade participation discourse in contemporaneity. For this, we emphasize the political ideology that guided redemocratization in the 1970-1980 decades, which broadened the basis of citizenship, understanding that as a protection and social control. Likewise, we analyze the changes in neoliberal thoughts and its consequences in dismantling of public policy and in consolidating the challenges saddle to their democratic management.

Saúde e Gestão Democrática: uma análise crítica sobre os Conselhos de Saúde

In this article we intend to structure a reflection on some contradictions inherent to the process of incorporation of the institutional spaces of social control in health care policy, identifying the counterarguments that pervade participation discourse in contemporaneity. For this, we emphasize the political ideology that guided redemocratization in the 1970-1980 decades, which broadened the basis of citizenship, understanding that as a protection and social control. Likewise, we analyze the changes in neoliberal thoughts and its consequences in dismantling of public policy and in consolidating the challenges saddle to their democratic management.

Scrutinizing the link between participatory governance and urban environment management. The experience in Arequipa during 2003–2006

This paper conceptualises participatory governance as a process of deepening local democracy through the opening of new spaces for civil society and citizens’ participation. It explores the link with the urban environment planning and management processes as proposed by UN-HABITAT’s SCP/LA21 programmes. To this end, an analysis of the Urban Environment Management Support Strategy in Arequipa (Peru) promoted by UN-HABITAT and UNEP in 2003–2006 is undertaken to examine how Local Agenda 21 can contribute to institutionalise participatory governance processes which deepen democratic management of sustainable human development in cities. Methodologically, this is made by applying Gaventa’s (2006) participatory governance approach in the case study with extensive fieldwork carried out in the city. According to that, conclusions are drawn in three different areas. Firstly, the participatory process itself and the role of the working groups, the use of objective data, the connection with citizens and some issues concerning facilitation. Secondly, the analysis goes inside accountability and explores the conflictive link between political action and negotiations which take place within a participatory planning process. Thirdly, the paper discusses institutionalisation and the importance of capitalising previous experiences and existing networks with a particular emphasis on the ones related to environmental education and training.

<b>A gestão democrática nas escolas públicas de Santa Catarina</b>

A presença da democracia na Rede de Ensino Pública Catarinense tem sua expressão na construção de escolas democráticas, que se caracterizam pela gestão democrática. A descentralização administrativa e a participação da comunidade na gestão escolar são fatores desse processo, que se apóiam também na legislação educacional e em mecanismos de participação na escola. Estes encontram, nas Instâncias de Gestão Escolar Democrática (IGEDs), um espaço a ser ocupado por todos os segmentos da comunidade escolar a fim de possibilitar o debate em torno da construção em conjunto do projeto pedagógico da escola e promover a abertura democrática da escola pública catarinense. Nisso, os professores são peças-chave. Por isso, sua participação na construção da escola democrática foi investigada, bem como a estrutura de gestão das escolas da Rede de Ensino Pública Catarinense e suas instâncias de gestão. Tratou-se de recolher elementos para elaborar um panorama da gestão democrática na Rede. Os dados da pesquisa provieram do questionamento de vinte professores, distribuídos por nove escolas. Salienta-se que as IGEDs pouco têm contribuído com a gestão escolar democrática, por haver pouca participação e as mesmas se apresentarem como apêndices da direção. Considerando que as restrições à participação, ao debate e ao diálogo mostram-se aquém do esperado para escolas públicas, conclui-se que a continuidade da construção de escolas democráticas na Rede de Ensino Pública Catarinense é um desafio que requer a valorização das IGEDs e o empenho das comunidades escolares na busca pelo direito de decidir os rumos da educação.Palavras-chave: Gestão escolar. Democracia. Participação.

<b>Gestão compartilhada da educação: o discurso e as práticas cotidianas no sistema de ensino do Recife</b>

O presente artigo analisa a questão do compartilhamento das decisões no âmbito da gestão da educação pública, problematizando a relação entre o discurso da gestão democrática e as práticas sociais dos conselheiros escolares e dos gestores do Sistema Municipal de Ensino do Recife. Os dados, coletados através de entrevistas e administração de questionários, foram tratados na perspectiva da análise de discurso. O objetivo é cotejar determinadas concepções e caracterizações da gestão compartilhada, presentes na literatura do campo educacional, e nas entrevistas dos sujeitos da pesquisa, com as nuances que envolvem o processo de proposição de políticas educacionais para o município do Recife. Conclui-se que as ações dos sujeitos que poderiam contribuir para a materialização dos princípios democráticos na gestão da educação municipal são desarticuladas ou silenciadas por um conjunto de fatores, entre os quais se destaca a desarticulação entre as instâncias de participação. Isso prova que a dificuldade de participação que freqüentemente é apontada como limitação estritamente da escola, trata-se de um problema que envolve, sobretudo, os órgãos de maior poder decisório do sistema de ensino. Esse é um elemento que depõe contra o discurso da descentralização no âmbito da gestão educacional, como também explicita o reducionismo do compartilhamento das decisões em nível de gerências administrativas do município.Palavras-chave: Gestão compartilhada. Política educacional. Sistema Municipal de Ensino.

On Application of MBO in College Management

MBO (Management by objectives) was firstly put forward by peter F. Drucker (who was a well-known scholar of management in America) in 1954 .MBO was applied in many organizations after a number of management scholars developed and perfected it . MBO is a comprehensive and democratic systemic management style which is work-centered and people-centered. At first, MBO was widely applied in management of enterprise as a kind of democratic management fashion. This paper organically make some characteristics of MBO and college management together to talk about the feasibility and importance of MBO in college management, as well as several questions should be noticed and tasks of leaders about MBO in college management.

Self-evaluation and democratic management in school

The purpose of this text is to discuss the Evaluation of Basic School and its interfaces with School Management, as well as the possible repercussions of this practice in decisions and actions in the institution quotidian. It presents the results of an investigation that focused on process of evaluation that count on the participation of fathers in four schools of Child Education and Initial Years of Fundamental Education in a medium sized city located in the metropolitan region of São Paulo. The analysis was concentrated in documents of evaluations carried out by the institutions themselves - secondary data. The study based conclusions that the process of evaluation in spot compounds the context of a Democratic Management in initial stage of construction, which expresses the contradictions between the proposals of the education system and the interests and needs of schools, but that constitutes an important piece for the promotion of a school where fathers/ mothers and school board search for a joining action.

Métodos dramáticos aplicados a intervenções socioeducativas de Autogestão e Contabilidade

The objective of the research is to find out what contributions that the use of dramatic techniques can provide within socio-educational interventions of Democratic Management and Accounting in the context of non-formal education. Initially, it presents a theoretical study on two dramatic methods commonly used in educational practices. The first one is the Role-Playing (PR), which already is applied in Higher Accounting Education. Another method discussed is the Theatre of the Oppressed (TO), designed and developed by the recognized theater studious Augusto Boal. As a way of studying the benefits of the use of these methods of drama in the teaching of Accounting, were made an experimental workshop in Technology Incubator of Popular Cooperatives at the University of São Paulo (ITCP-USP), active institution in the movement of Solidary Economics (ES). It was found with the search the effectiveness of the methods of drama used to experience and understanding of processes related to the management. Experience with the TO and RP provided collective reflection on the roles made in an organization and showed the technical character of the accounting knowledge perceived by the participants.

Minzhu guanli: the democratization of factory management in the Chinese revolution

From 1948 to 1951, the Chinese Communist Party attempted to implement a policy of ‘democratic management’ in urban industry. Minzhu guanli entailed various, sometimes contradictory elements including worker participation in management organs, the rationalization of factory production, and improvements in worker welfare. It was hoped that such reforms would not only help to build up working-class support for the revolutionary party, but would also improve production by relying on the initiative and creativity of the ‘worker masses’. Although short-lived and largely unsuccessful, experiments with democratic management in state-run factories in the early years of the People's Republic represent one of the most ambitious efforts to overcome capitalist relations of production. Although the CCP never went so far as to advocate worker control along syndicalist lines, minzhu guanli was aimed, in part, at overcoming alienation and the separation of decision making and implementation at the factory level. This paper draws upon diverse sources reporting on experiments with ‘democratic management’ throughout China. It assesses the conditions surrounding the implementation of participatory forms of factory management in order to determine which factors facilitated or hindered such reforms. The discussion includes a wide range of industrial enterprises and groups of workers in order to illuminate the underlying structures that conditioned the success or failure of democratic management. The concluding section traces the fate of minzhu guanli to the present day and assesses the implications of these experiences for China's experiment in socialism.

Institutional and environmental issues in land reclamation systems maintenance

Abstract The research reported here addresses the issues of institutional, social and land-use change with reference to land reclamation system maintenance in the Odra River Valley, SW Poland. Land reclamation systems are a network of different types of water control infrastructure and they require the collective maintenance effort of all users in order to fulfill drainage and irrigation functions properly. The example of decline in these systems in Polish rural areas brings together environmental and economic issues, as well as social dimensions of change from socialist top-down to democratic bottom-up decision-making and management. After 1989 the financing and management of land reclamation services by the State greatly decreased and a duty of LRS maintenance was actually transferred from government to individual land users. Farmers were not ready to take this responsibility and the whole system declined. The analysis presented in this article is a contribution to a better understanding of non-functioning land reclamation systems. Some recommendations for the future improvement of these systems are also provided.

THE REPRESSIVE FACE OF LAW TO STRIKE IN NIGERIA: HOPE FOR INDUSTRIAL PEACE?

Though the strike is accepted as an indispensable component of a democracy and a stimulus to social dialogue in industrial relations, strikes have remained controversial in many jurisdictions and are repressed by law in some legal systems. This paper examines the legal response to strikes in Nigeria and the implications for workers. It reviews the law over time and finds that it has remained repressive, based on the lopsided desire to protect general services and the business interests of the employer over and above the interests of the worker. In spite of these repressive laws, workers have continued to use strikes in expressing their grievances. The paper argues for legitimization of strikes in industrial relations in Nigeria. This is necessary if we are to encourage social dialogue and workers' participation in the democratic management of the enterprise and the economy as a whole. The paper posits that sustained social dialogue and workers' participation in the democratic management of the enterprise is a panacea for industrial peace and sustainable economic development.

A Chinese State Enterprise under the Reforms: What Model of Capitalism?

Previous articleNext article No AccessA Chinese State Enterprise under the Reforms: What Model of Capitalism?Anita Chan and Jonathan UngerAnita Chan Search for more articles by this author and Jonathan Unger Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The China Journal Volume 62Jul., 2009 Published on behalf of the Australian Centre on China in the World at the Australian National University Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/tcj.62.20648112 Views: 73Total views on this site Citations: 18Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright The China JournalPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Jingqi Zhu, Rick Delbridge The management of second-generation migrant workers in China: A case study of centrifugal paternalism, Human Relations 75, no.1212 (Jul 2021): 2272–2299.https://doi.org/10.1177/00187267211032948Wei Huang What sort of workplace democracy can democratic management achieve in China?, Industrial Relations Journal 53, no.66 (Nov 2022): 578–601.https://doi.org/10.1111/irj.12387Feng Xu Building China’s Eldercare Market: The Imperatives of Capital Accumulation and Social Stability, Social Sciences 11, no.55 (May 2022): 212.https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci11050212Hao Zhang, Eli Friedman Informality and Working Conditions in China's Sanitation Sector, The China Quarterly 238 (Dec 2018): 375–395.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305741018001388Konstantinos Tsimonis (De)mobilising and (mis)representing ‘youth’ in the Chinese workplace: political dependency, generational subordination and corporatisation in the Communist Youth League, Journal of Youth Studies 20, no.1010 (May 2017): 1362–1379.https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2017.1333584Tom Barnes Industry policy in Asia’s demographic giants: China, India and Indonesia compared, The Economic and Labour Relations Review 28, no.22 (Jan 2023): 218–233.https://doi.org/10.1177/1035304616656562Susanne YP Choi, Yinni Peng Humanized management? Capital and migrant labour in a time of labour shortage in South China, Human Relations 68, no.22 (Feb 2015): 287–304.https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726714541162Tom Cliff Post-Socialist Aspirations in a Neo-Danwei, The China Journal 73 (Jun 2015): 132–157.https://doi.org/10.1086/679272Ju Li From “Master” to “Loser”: Changing Working-Class Cultural Identity in Contemporary China, International Labor and Working-Class History 88 (Sep 2015): 190–208.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0147547915000277Anita Chan, Yiu Por Chen, Yuhua Xie, Zhao Wei, Cathy Walker Disposable Bodies and Labor Rights: Workers in China's Automotive Industry, WorkingUSA 17, no.44 (Dec 2014): 509–529.https://doi.org/10.1111/wusa.12136Vincent Chua Institutional Comparisons of the Perceived Value of Networks in China and the United States, Comparative Sociology 13, no.55 (Nov 2014): 587–617.https://doi.org/10.1163/15691330-12341326Jessie P.H. Poon, Qingyang Shang Are creative workers happier in Chinese cities? The influence of work, lifestyle, and amenities on urban well-being, Urban Geography 35, no.44 (Apr 2014): 567–585.https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2014.904977Eli Friedman Insurgency and institutionalization: the Polanyian countermovement and Chinese labor politics, Theory and Society 42, no.33 (Mar 2013): 295–327.https://doi.org/10.1007/s11186-013-9192-1Penelope B. Prime, Li Qi Determinants of Firm Leverage, The Chinese Economy 46, no.22 (Dec 2014): 74–106.https://doi.org/10.2753/CES1097-1475460204Katherine A. Mason To Your Health! Toasting, Intoxication and Gendered Critique among Banqueting Women, The China Journal 69 (Jul 2015): 108–133.https://doi.org/10.1086/668804Philip C.C. Huang Profit-Making State Firms and China’s Development Experience, Modern China 38, no.66 (Nov 2012): 591–629.https://doi.org/10.1177/0097700412455839Philip C. C. Huang Chongqing, Modern China 37, no.66 (Nov 2011): 569–622.https://doi.org/10.1177/0097700411419966Muriel Périsse Chine : une transition salariale à hauts risques, Revue de la régulation , no.66 (Oct 2009).https://doi.org/10.4000/regulation.7675

Workers' Cooperatives and Social Enterprise

Grounded in both domestic and international illustrations of modern-day worker cooperatives and social enterprises, this article shows how the practices of these examples of social property give rise to more democratic management of the workplace and equitable outcomes for society than would ever be possible with conventionally owned enterprises. The article offers public policy proposals that would encourage the formation of cooperative enterprises in the United States, at once offering a way to anchor well-paid jobs in U.S. communities and to extend the opportunity for shared ownership and control to working people. The article concludes with a consideration of how the extension of practical democratic rights into the economic realm might enhance citizens' capacity for and confidence in dialogue and democratic decision making in the political and civic realms of life.

Organizational culture and performance: a Brazilian case

PurposeThe purpose of this research project is to focus on the acquisition of a Brazilian state owned energy distribution company by a Spanish conglomerate during the privatization process. It aims to verify if the performance indicators implemented by the acquiring company during the post‐acquisition phase were compatible with the organizational culture (OC) dimensions identified by Hofstede et al. It tries to identify if the values and practices fostered by the company transformation plan (such as democratic management, results orientation and focus on people) were in agreement with the organizational identified culture dimensions.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology used in this study is based on a research design that combined quantitative research with a qualitative exploratory procedure.FindingsResearch results indicate the existence of substantial OC differences, as perceived by managers and by the bulk of employees, as shown by the existence of two OC clusters. Moreover, results also suggest the need of improving the coherence between performance indicators and the OC dimensions.Originality/valueEmerging markets are the growth engines of the world economy. There is increasing evidence that cultural incompatibility is the single largest cause of lack of projected performance, departure of key executives and time‐consuming conflicts in the consolidation of business.