The Impact of Employees Participation in Decision Making and Organizational Productivity (a Case Study Nestle Nigeria PLC)
Chapter One
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The purpose of this research study is to assess the impact of employee’s participation in managerial decision making in public sector organization in Nigeria a with reference To Nestle Nigeria Plc
The main objectives are;
- To assess the impact of employee participation in management decision making in Nestle Nigeria Plc
- To investigate the impact of employee participation in management decision on productivity of the organization
- To make recommendation based on the research finding
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
INTRODUCTION
For a clear cut understanding of this study, the review of related literature will be made in this chapter which in turn will create a focus and better direction. In this light, the literature will discuss first the concept of participation, highlight of expressed views concerning employee participation will be made. Other segements of the literature as leadership style and degree of participation, conditions for participation, influences on participation, arguments for participation, arguments against participation and productivity improvement through participative management and others etc. will be discussed. Management, as defined by Mary Parker Folliet is the art of doing things through people to achieve an objective. A vital concept towards attaining objectives is decision making – making a choice out of alternatives. The choice should conceptually benefit the manager, of the business, the subordinates, the owners of the business and more importantly the public. Decisions made by management and implemented through people, that is, the subordinates. The question then is, should the one to implement the decision have a say in what he should implement.
CONCEPT OF PARTICIPATION
Several management strategies have been developed to enable organizations attain their objectives, one of which is participatory management. Adeola S. (1994, p. 23) defines participation as the active involvement of subordinates of followers in the making of decisions that directly affect them in the work place. Participation in decision making is generally regarded as a sign of enlightened and democratic management. It may be through of the giving and receiving of information, achieve and suggestion and the sharing of experience among members of an organization. In management, Murew (1967 p. 83) opined that “participation particularly applies to allowing the employees) to have a voice in shaping policies, procedures and processes that directly or indirectly affect”. It is therefore a process of sharing among managers and employees. Though the use of participation also, individual members are involved in a wide range of objective setting, problem solving, and decision-making activities of the organization. Davis (1981 p.156) stated that participation is a mental and emotional involvement of persons in group situations that encourage them to contribute to group goals and share responsibility for them. Lewin (1969 p. 21) defined it as a mode of organizational operation in which decision as to activities are arrived at by the person , who are to execute those decisions. However, participation from my own point of view, I can say is a process in which two or more parties influence each other in making decisions. The parties to the decision making process may be in their capacities as individuals or as groups. In participatory management, management selectively shares, some of its powers with employees. It takes into consideration the wishes and suggestions of the members as well as those of the leader. It is a human relations approach where all members of the group are seen as important contributors to the firm’s decisions. Gurin, Veroff and Feld (1979) concluded that participation is really a middle-class value, and grows out of the prior expectations of those being supervised. Vroom (1964) points out two distinctions in the definition of participation. The first he calls “psychological” (you think you are participating in the decision that affect you), and the second “objective” (you actually participate strongly in the decisions that affect you whether you know it or not). Vrooms study is essence shows or through some interesting light on how follower personalities affect participation per se, is not a Programme but rather a dramatic change in the way most companies take decisions and operate on a day-to-day basis, which efficiency and productivity by managers of organizations and on the oath The concept of participation in an organization can therefore be summarized as a process by which an organization attempts to unlock the creative potentials of its people by involving them in decisions affecting their work lives. It is a structured effort to enable employees at all levels in an organization to use their knowledge, skills and abilities more effectively in their work and to participate more fully in decisions about their work life.
EXPRESSED VIEWS CONCERNING EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION
Different views have been expressed regarding employee participation. These views range from outright rejection of the idea to religious belief that only participation will make companies productive and competitive. Labour leaders and workers while continuing to press primarily for increased economic benefits and related gains in working conditions, have become increasingly persistent in demands for more direct involvement in the decision making processes of the companies that employ them. Politicians have allied themselves to the union for political gains. Participation has become a familiar focus of political debates in a number of countries where its backers seek legislation to establish new participation formats or expand existing procedures in companies to include more participation. Some executives on the other hand have held on to the belief that worker participation has no place in the enterprise. In the light of the above McFarland (1968 p.502) tells us that the root of participative decision making lies in the company philosophy and managerial style and in the overall organizational climate. Organizational climate as used by McFarland includes people, laws, economic and market conditions and technology. Likert and his associates who conducted elaborate research studies at the institute for social research of the University of Michigan stressed and prescribed participative group management system as universally acceptable which is characterized by high degree of trust, confidence and participation. Here there is a great deal of interaction between managers and subordinates and there is extensive upward and lateral communication. He goes further to say “The leadership and other process of the organization must be such as to insure a maximum probability that in all interaction and in all relationship, within the organization, each number in the light of his background, values, desires, and expectations will view the experience as supportive and one which builds and maintains his sense of personal worth and importance”. McGregor (1960 p. 33) follows this theme by emphasizing the desirability of replacing the authoritative theory X by the more democratic participative theory Y. This theory assumes grater motivation and increase fulfilment of both individual needs and organizational goals. This theory assumes grater motivation and increase fulfilment of both individual needs and organizational goals. The individual will assume responsibility freely and easily, exercise self direction and self control. Such organization that operates on this assumption would readily distribute responsibility widely among its managers and would want an individual to participate in setting goals for him and for the organization. In other words this theory emphasizes participation management rather than management by control. Akpala (19990 p. 55) believes that MBO (Management By Objective) to a certain degree can be called a participative management system. Its operation calls for manages at any level to join with their subordinates or their superior to plan the objectives of the respective levels of management. That is, the manager and the subordinate collaborate in setting goals for the subordinate with the understanding that the extent to which these objectives are attained will be the major factor in evaluating and rewarding subordinate’s performance.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
The researcher used descriptive research survey design in building up this project work the choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought the impact of employee participation in decision making on organizational performance
Sources of data collection
Data were collected from two main sources namely:
(i)Primary source and
(ii)Secondary source
Primary source:
These are materials of statistical investigation which were collected by the research for a particular purpose. They can be obtained through a survey, observation questionnaire or as experiment; the researcher has adopted the questionnaire method for this study.
Secondary source:
These are data from textbook Journal handset etc. they arise as byproducts of the same other purposes. Example administration, various other unpublished works and write ups were also used.
Population of the study
Population of a study is a group of persons or aggregate items, things the researcher is interested in getting information the impact of employee participation in decision making on organizational performance. 200 staff of Nestle Nigeria Plc Lagos state was selected randomly by the researcher as the population of the study.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Introduction
Efforts will be made at this stage to present, analyze and interpret the data collected during the field survey. This presentation will be based on the responses from the completed questionnaires. The result of this exercise will be summarized in tabular forms for easy references and analysis. It will also show answers to questions relating to the research questions for this research study. The researcher employed simple percentage in the analysis.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to ascertain the impact of employee participation in decision making on organizational performance. In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenge of employee participation in decision making on organizational performance
Summary
This study was on the impact of employee participation in decision making on organizational performance. Three objectives were raised which included: To assess the impact of employee participation in management decision making in Nestle Nigeria Plc, to investigate the impact of employee participation in management decision on productivity o the organization, to make recommendation based on the research finding. In line with these objectives, two research hypotheses were formulated and two null hypotheses were posited. The total population for the study is 200 staff of Nestle Nigeria Plc, Lagos state. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made human processing engineers, electricians, senior staff and junior staff were used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies.
Conclusion
Employee participation in decision making has been found to have favorable effects on employee attitude, commitment and productivity even also on the efficiency of the managers. Thus participative management should be seen as an inevitable tool in any organization both public and private. However before this could be done or undertaken, a thorough examination of the organization policy should be looked into and amended to affect this.
Recommendation
In this study, some recommendations have been made to increase the importance and benefits of employee’s participation in decision making and its recognition.
1) Managers should put more effort in encouraging their employees to come up with suggestions and useful decisions and endeavor to incorporate them into the organization’s decisions and policy.
2)Managers should increase the frequency and level of worker participation in decision making considering the fact that they are the people carrying out the main operative work as they are in the better position to know what goes on those areas.
3) Every organization should endeavor to create a clear-cut understanding and notion of the concept of participative decision making to avoid confusion and clashes of interest between the employees and the managers.
4)More importantly is that the main objective of any scheme for participation should be specific and exact in any organization that care to enable workers recognize the areas their suggestions and opinions are most needed.
REFERENCES
- Adeola S. (1994), Corporate Decision Making, “Must Workers have a Say” Corporate Diary, Financial Guardian, 4th April p. 23.
- Akpala A. (1982), Industrial Relations Model for Developing Countries, The Nigeria System: Fourth Dimension Publishers, Lagos.
- Akpala A. (1990), Management: An Introduction and Nigerian Perspective P.23
- Benard M. (1985), Leadership and Performance Beyond Expectations. New York: The Free Press.
- Benson T.E. Destination: (1990), Total Employee Investment”. Industry Week; September 3, vol 239.
- Bisocos S.K. (1990), Employee Participation without Pain” Human Resources Magazine 10 April.
- Burt N. Leaders’ New York Harper and Row.
- Davis K. (1981), Organizational Behaviour; McGraw Hill Books Ltd, New Delhi, P.156 Drucker P. The New Society. (1964), The Anatomy of the Industry Chicago. Greenwood Press.
- Dubrin J.A Ireland & William J.C (1989), Management and Organization. South-Western Publishing Company Cincinnatis, Ohio U.S.A.
- Eilon S. (1968), Aspects of Management; Pergamon International Library.
