ABSTRACT
This study
has examined the impact of employee’s participation on decision making in
Nigerian Public sector and the research objectives of the study were: to find
out how Employee participation in decision making has a significant impact on
organisational performance and to ascertain the level of workers participation
in decision making of the organizations. The research design was descriptive in
nature. To guide the study, objectives of the study, research hypotheses were
designed. An in-depth review of related literature was carried out. Primary
data method was used for the study and the instrument used was a questionnaire
survey designed using the Likert scale questionnaire format and administered to
100 respondents. Findings in the study showed that employee’s participation in
decision making impacts on the performance of organisations in Nigeria. The
results of the study indicate a statistically significant relationship between
employee involvement in decision making and organisational performance. The findings
also reveal the involvement of participating organisations in employee
involvement in decision making. The implications of this study include the need
for public sector to demonstrate high level of commitment to employee
involvement in decision making for performance enhancement.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of Study
Decision-making
in organizations has been the domain of top management but without the
participation of those on the lower treads of the ranking of management, yet
they are the very ones expected to see to the implementation of these decisions
(McGregor, 2000).
(Marchington
and Cox, 2007) saw employee participation as a feature of soft rather than hard
Human Resource Management, (HRM). In organisation with a hard orientation, (Marchington
and Cox, 2007) saw employee participation as a feature of soft rather than hard
Human Resource Management considers that the „numbers-driven‟, cost-cutting
mindset reduces participation to a one-way communication channel. This
contrasts with organizations that are true believers in employees as their
„greatest asset‟ where there is a strategic pledge to sharing information and
views and achieving a workplace culture that meets business needs. (Bennett,
2010) describes employee participation as a form of employee voice initiative
which may be seen differently by Human Resource (HR) experts and unions.
Employee
participation is considered a key element in the successful implementation of
new management strategies and plays an important role in determining the degree
of good organizational citizenship behavior (Harber and Marriot, 2001). This in
turn, increases the commitment of the employee as well as their motivation.
Furthermore, Higgins (2002) argues that participation is a mental and emotional
replication that will lead to the fulfillment of individual and organizational
goals, especially if supported by the organization‟s climate. For instance,
(Appelbaum et al., 2000) argue that the opportunity to participate in decision
making helps to create trust between workers and supervisors and to produce
intrinsic rewards.
Employee participation in decision making has
become a significant topic in human resource management (HRM), and is regarded
as one of the chief ingredients of employee voice, which many management
scholars have observed to be a growing management concept. Several studies have
shown that allowing employees to participate in decision making leads to
increase in motivation, job performance, and organizational growth (Kim et al, 2010;
Bhuiyan, 2010; and Brown 2002).
Decision
making is shared at all levels of management. It is observed that decision
making in Japanese organisation are focused on defining questions or issues
rather than on finding solutions. Thus all levels of the organization are
involved in this process. A modern forward-looking business does not keep its
employees in the dark about vital decisions affecting them. It trusts them and
involves them in decision making at all levels. “Command and control” is no
longer an adequate model. A more open and collaborative framework will exploit
the talents of all employees (Hewitt, 2002).
In order to increase the workers commitment and humanise the
workplace with the intention of improving work performance and good citizenship
behaviour, managers need to permit a high degree of employee involvement (Cohen
et al., 2007). Thus, the involvement of workers in decision making is
considered as a tool for inducing motivation in the workers leading to positive
work attitude and high productivity (Noah, 2009). It is against this background
that the researcher conducts the present study to determine the impact of
employee participation in Nigerian public sectors with special reference to
Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC), Enugu State.
1.2 Statement of the problem
The
major problem for employee participation in decision making is resistance to
change by management. Managers create an organizational culture that reflects
their own philosophies and styles of management and reinforce their strategies
and control. Employee participation in decision making poses threat to the more
autocratic manager. Many managers tend to resist participation because it is
contrary to their habit-formed ways of thinking and behaving. In addition, failure
to respond to employee commendations is an example that reduces employee
participation in decision making. If management does not acknowledge employees
endorsements, employees rapidly conclude that management has no interest in
their ideas.
Many
researchers have taken a more universal approach to studying employees‟
participation in decision making, arguing that participative decision making
requires a certain context over and beyond a set of programs or techniques.
Without the redesign of work, employee participation efforts can even have a
negative effect. Participative approach such as delegation gave mixed results,
especially in public organizations. In contrast, participative decision making
that gives employees the opportunity to make substantive changes in their work
is a tool for large-scale organizational change.
In
the light of the above, this study therefore is set to determine the impact of
employee’s participation in decision making and its influence on Nigerian
public sector.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The
purpose of the study was to identify the impact of employee participation on
decision making in Nigerian Public sector. Moreover, the specific objectives
are to;
i.
examine the perception of
workers towards participative management policy in the study area.
ii.
find out how Employee participation in
decision making has a significant impact on organisational performance
iii.
ascertain the level of workers
participation in decision making of the organizations.
1.4 Research Questions
The
following research questions shall be addressed by this research:
i.
What is the perception of
workers towards participative management policy in the study area?
ii.
does employee participation in
decision making have a significant impact on organizational performance ?
iii.
To what extent does employee of
EEDC participate in decision making in the organization?
1.5 Significance of the Study
This
study is designed to provide information to the populace on how public firms
have faired in their practice of participative decision making and its
contributions to productivity, thereby enhancing organizational efficiency. It
is expected that this study will be beneficial to the management by giving
enough insight into the benefits of employee participation in decision making,
make clear to managers what participative management stands for hence, reducing
the fear often harboured by these managers. Workers, students of business
Administration and the society at large are equally the potential beneficiaries
of this study.
It
is equally my hope that the study would provide a basis on which further
research could be carried out.
1.6 Research Hypothesis
The researcher formulates the
following hypotheses based on the objectives and problems of this research work
H1: Employee participation in
decision making has a significant impact on organizational performance
H2: There are significant levels
of workers participation in decision making of the organizations.
1.7 Scope of the Study
The research will give more consideration
to the problems associated with low productivity among workers in the public
organizations where productivity level can be measured.
The study is limited to Enugu
Electricity Distribution Company, Enugu State as a public sector organization
1.8 Limitations of the Study
In
the course of this study, the researcher encountered lots of constraint which
includes:
- Time: There was no insufficient of time to carryout this research such a enough time study.
- Finance: Also a great threat to this study because of this nature requires large funds which could not be obtained.
- Academic Workload: Academic workload was another limitation of this research work due to the nature of our lecture from Monday to Friday which provides little time for student to go for the information needed for the research.
- Availability of Information: The major limitation to this study are access to necessary related information due to the organizational set upon employee want to be involved for the fears of queries from superior officers and maybe subsequent termination of the job.
1.9 Definition of Terms
Employee/Worker:
For
the purpose of this study a worker is taken to mean any person who has
undertaken to place his gainful activity in return for a remuneration, under
the direction of another person who may be an individual, a private or public
company or a corporation, who is styled the employer. (Akpala 1990)
Productivity:
Productivity is the output unit / per labour input into the production process
given the level of existing technology.
Management:
This is the process of planning, organizing, staffing, leading, directing,
coordinating and controlling available resources toward s achieving a target
objective.
Participation
This
will be regarded as the process by which people contribute ideas towards the
solution of problems affecting the organization and allied matters.
Employee
Participation
This
will be taken to be when those below the top of an enterprise hierarchy take
part in the managerial function of enterprise.
Decision
Making
This
could be taken to mean an art considering and making a judgement concerning a
particular issue or issues.
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