Participation in Organizations: A Preview of the Issues and Proposed Framework for Future Analysis

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of research related to participation programs in organizations. Although certain relationships, such as the participation-performance association, have been adequately addressed in the literature, other aspects of the participation process have received very limited research attention, We propose that research move away from a narrow focus on certain aspects of the participation process and move toward a more inclusive agenda. To facilitate this movement, we provide a participation framework that organizes what is and is not known about participation, develop an operational definition of participation, summarize the incentives that motivate participation, review individual and organizational contextual factors that relate to participation, describe participation-outcome relationships, and note essential measurement questions.