A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Participative Decision-Making in Organizations

Abstract

Despite considerable awareness about various forms and meanings of participative decision-making (PDM) in different parts of the world, there is less agreement on the causes of variation in PDM. This article argues that among other exogenous (e.g. sociopolitical, legal, historical) forces, the sociocultural context plays an important role in the observed differences among PDM approaches and practices across nations. Similarly, subcultures and organizational cultures may influence PDM within nations. Two cultural dimensions: individualism-collectivism and power distance, are linked with four widespread employee participation approaches: face-to-face PDM, collective PDM, pseudo-PDM, and paternalistic PDM. The attributes of each PDM form, including the cultural determinants, underlying beliefs, the types of decisions made, and the relationship between a specified form and other PDM meanings (e.g. self-managing teams) are elaborated.