Management - Vikhanskiy OS

4.3. Participatory organization

Despite many advantages of a multidimensional organization, nevertheless, even with its help, it is difficult to create a structure that would suit all members of the organization and adequately motivate their activities. Some experts believe that this problem is more successfully solved if the members of the organization are given the right to participate in making decisions concerning their work. The last clarification is fundamental and distinguishes at the root of organizations built on the "participation of workers in management", or the so-called participatory organizations, from organizations where through the creation of self-government bodies incompetent interference in the work of other members or parts of the organization. A clear example of this approach was the introduction during the period of restructuring in the enterprises of the former USSR of the election of managers and the creation of councils of labor collectives set forth by the will of law over management and called upon to democratize the management of the enterprise.

The participation of workers of all levels in management, which lies at the base of the participative organization, presupposes:

• participation in decision-making;

• Participation in setting goals;

• Participation in problem solving.

(The motivational aspect of participation in governance is discussed in Chapter 2.)

The principal difference between the model of the participative organization and the traditional one and with the delegation of rights is shown in Fig. 8.9.

The degree and forms of participation in management fill the partisality with a certain content. There are three degrees of participation:

• Proposals;

• developing an alternative;

• choosing the final solution.

The first degree - the nomination of proposals - does not require the introduction of structural and other changes in the traditional organization and can be carried out by the manager. This approach is still widely used in enterprises with centralized management.

Differences in decision-making in traditional, participatory and delegating organizations

Fig. 8.9. Differences in decision-making in traditional, participatory and delegating organizations

The second degree - the development of alternatives - requires the appearance of special structures in the organization that could effectively solve this problem. In practice, this is expressed in the creation of temporary or standing committees or commissions entrusted with carrying out this work. Examples of such formations can be the so-called self-supporting or conflict-making commissions (at Russian enterprises), committees for recruiting personnel in working groups (at American enterprises), quality circles (at Japanese enterprises).

The third degree - the choice of alternative - assumes that participation in management is carried out in the form of the work of special councils of scientific, technical, technical, economic and managerial nature. The decisions of such councils are often mandatory for those leaders under whom they are created. These councils, as a rule, include individuals with the next lowest level of the hierarchy in the organization (figure 8.10).

Councils have the following functions:

• are responsible for coordinating the activities of units subordinate to the head to which this council belongs;

• are responsible for integrating the activities of the units represented in it with the activities of one or two higher levels of government and one or two subordinate levels (usually the leader of each level represents, in addition to "his" council in two more - "lower" and "upper");

• determine the policies (rules and procedures) of their subordinate units, compatible with the other two levels.

It is important to note that the councils do not take decisions for the units accountable to them, they take decisions only on the processes occurring at their level.

Some councils are assigned to evaluate and approve the activities of the manager accountable to them. However, the right to dismiss remains for higher leadership. Thus, each individual leader receives support from above as well as from below.

The conditions described give the structure of the organization a democratic character: every person in an organization that has power over others is accountable to their joint control. This prevents arbitrariness in relation to any member of the organization from any superior.

Partisipative organizations also have other important advantages. With properly organized work, participation in management increases the quality of decisions made. Considering more alternatives, brings more experience to the discussion, richer becomes the assessment of the external environment. Participation develops a creative attitude to work, gives rise to more ideas, enriches the work as a whole. Developing the system of communications in the organization, participation in management opens the communication system from below and weakens the pressure on the leader on the part of subordinates. Employees have a sense of ownership, motivation of activity increases, they better perform the decisions they make (see Chapter 2). An atmosphere of group, teamwork is created, greatly improving labor morale and productivity.

However, with incorrect design, participatory organizations face a number of problems. Thus, the incompatibility of hierarchy and democracy, embedded in human thinking, can constantly return it to the assumption that power always goes in one direction. In this case, it is difficult to design a democratic organization in which the hierarchy is preserved. As a result, there is a bias towards either the ineffectiveness of the boards, or they begin to interfere in the affairs of the managers and subordinate units accountable to them.

Schematic diagram of the structure of the participatory organization

Fig. 8.10. Schematic diagram of the structure of the participatory organization

The practice of participation shows that highly developed individualistic principles in a person come into conflict with the pressure of colleagues, which turns out to be for each individual participant. There is the effect of "collective exploitation," which threatens to become more rigid under certain circumstances than "official exploitation." Collective control of the leader's actions develops his populist qualities, while the "controllers" have "collective egoism", which has devastating consequences for enterprises. Often, in connection with the arrival of a new leader, who has his own style of management, his vision of the situation, there is a need to reform the participatory structures. However, this may prove to be a very complicated task, since partisipative structures are difficult to reconstruct. The effectiveness of the structures with the participation of workers in management is significantly influenced by maintaining a balance in the appointment from the top and electing from below council members.

Partisipative types of structures are used in various organizations regardless of their size and industry. They, like multidimensional ones, can only extend to a part or a separate level in the organization. Their implementation can be carried out both from above and from below by gradual and sequential coverage of one level after another.