Participative Management

Not all organizations are alike, even when they are part of the same corporation. Pavett and Morris (1995) looked at management systems in medical manufacturing plants in Italy, Mexico, Spain, the United States, and England. All five plants were owned by a single corporation and had the same products, operating policies, and organizational structure. The researchers asked questions like "How well do superiors know the problems faced by subordinates?" using a scale that ran from 0 (not very well) to 20 (very well). Low ratings meant that the plants had "authoritative" management, with employees having little say in decisions about their jobs; high ratings showed "participative group" management, with employees participating in many company decisions.

Despite the corporation's efforts to standardize the plants, their ratings were very different. The plants in the United States and Britain both reported involving employees in managing the plant much more than other plants. Pavett and Morris suggest that the United States and Britain are both individualistic societies, where people are uncomfortable with large power differences between employees and managers. Italy, Mexico, and Spain, on the other hand, are collectivist societies, where group members are supposed to pay more attention to the group's and the group's leader's needs than their own.