Search

The author analyses the process of direct participation in Poland compared with other European countries. The analysis includes a review of the subject literature and a new qualitative study carried out as part of the DIRECT project (2017–2018) co-financed by the European Commission. The article aims to examine new trends in direct participation and outline the various components of the process. The author defines direct participation (DP) as the conferral upon subordinates of tasks that they are expected to perform more or less autonomously. A complex picture is offered on the basis of data gathered from various research, although there is a concurrence between the results of quantitative research pursued to date and new data from qualitative research. Of note is the lack of continuity of direct participation in many dimensions, such as work organisation, instruments applied in practice, and differences between management ideas and actual day-to-day practice, including in terms of official and formal mechanisms versus unofficial and informal ones.

Islamic education in Indonesia extremely urgent to be examined because citizen of Indonesia are mostly moslem, until it become education progression factor in a country with mostly moslem citizen. The entrance used to collect empirical and actual data in order to critically analyzed quality management theory which is islamic education like madrasah. Madrasah as formal islamic education organization that integrated within national education system in Indonesia needs quality management. Madrasah based quality advance management is a management model that extend bigger autonomy to madrasah, giving flexibility to madrasah, and encourage direct participation from stakeholders to increase the quality of madrasah. Keywords: analysis, madrasah, quality advance management

News about environmental issues have led many companies and fast food restaurants like KFC started the Public Relations campaign movement with the theme #NOSTRAWMOVEMENT which was done simultaneously in all of their outlets in Indonesia. KFC Raden Inten becomes case in study. This study aims to determine the influence of the Public Relations campaign #NOSTRAWMOVEMENT will influence consumer participation in KFC Raden Inten. This research uses stimulus- respons (S-R) theory and participation concept which can be interpreted as taking part or taking a role in activities or activities. The author uses this theory because I want to know how much consumer participation is influenced by Public Relations campaign #NOSTRAWMOVEMENT of KFC. Participation is divided into two categories, direct participation and indirect participation. In this study, researchers used quantitative research with a descriptive and explanatory approach. Data collection techniques used in this study were documentation and questionnaire filling as part of the survey. Researchers used a survei method using a questionnaire. Data analysis techniques using validity test, reliability test, normality test, t test, F test and R2 test. Based on the data processing carried out, this study obtained the result that the relationship between the Public Relations campaign variables and consumer participation had a positive and significant influence. Keywords: Public Relations Campaign, Consumer Participation, Consumer Attitude

The purpose of the article is the analysis of the key social and legal mechanisms of environmental culture development in the population. Through the method of expert survey, the authors determine the main functions of the environmental culture and the social institutions of environmental culture development in population. Environmental culture is characterized by deep versatile knowledge of the environment; the presence of nature-related values; the ecological style of thinking and the corresponding attitude towards nature; the acquisition of skills and experience of solving ecological problems; direct participation in conservation-related activities; the anticipation of the possible remote negative consequences of the nature-transforming activities of the people.

Introduction: The work of green space managers – local authority department staff, external contractors, or caretakers employed by institutions or companies – can be expected to have a great effect on child-friendliness by affecting mainly physical, but also socio-environmental determinants. The Scandinavian countries have a history of being world- leading in work to improve the child-friendliness of environments, with much awareness of this issue during the early and mid-twentieth century. Children’s levels of independent mobility are generally high, but diminishing, probably due to urban densification and increased car traffic (Bj o rklid and Gummesson, 2013 ). The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child has been ratified and promoted, but less attention has been given to later international movements, and planning in Scandinavia has been criticised for not taking a child-friendly direction (Bjorklid and Nordstrom, 2007 ), with a focus on densification, urban character and new public management solutions. Much of the literature on child-friendly environments focuses on participatory approaches to development of the physical environment (Alarasi et al., 2016 ; Cushing, 2016 ). Children’s participation in planning can be highly valuable, but is not the only way to approach child-friendly environments, since these also depend on other practices, as well as on basic physical and social environmental factors. These can be developed both with and without children’s direct participation. In this chapter, we examine the specific role of green space management in developing child-friendly environments, focusing on children’s perspectives. We argue the importance of green space management to children, and suggest how managers can understand and strive towards child-friendliness in their approach to management of the urban environment. We argue that this work has huge potential, which is yet to be fully acknowledged and realised.

Science, Technology and Society (STS) research on the social dimensions of technology development emphasizes how imagined publics who play passive roles in technology systems influence technology design and public engagement. It further documents expert adherence to deficit models for conceptualizing publics’ responses to technology development. Building on this literature, this paper examines two related questions that have received little attention. First, how do experts conceptualize publics whose direct participation with technology development, rather than quiescence toward technology development, is framed by experts as mandatory for the technology project’s success? Second, given both the prevalence and problematic outcomes of expert and institutional adherence to deficit models, what might an alternative model for conceptualizing publics look like? To address these questions, we draw from a case study of 30 “bioenergy experts” in the Northeastern U.S. and their imagined landowning publics. Our analysis provides two contributions. First, we develop the concept “obligatory publics” to examine expert imaginaries of publics whose direct participation is seen as mandatory for successful renewable energy technology (RET) development. And second, we suggest a “hermeneutic-dialectic” approach, which emphasizes the role of dialogue between experts and publics for achieving new and mutually agreed upon understandings, as one possible alternative to public deficit models.

This Engineering education has to prepare graduates at all levels, BSc, MSc and PhD, for their future jobs in high technology companies. Many aspects, not only the professional knowledge, have to be taken into account in order to ensure students preparedness to work in continuously changing environments in modern industrial companies. Because the conditions for high technology companies are changing very in 21-st century, it is very important for universities to empower the cooperation with industry to ensure up-to-date engineering education. This include also students' internships in companies and completion of students' Bachelor thesis in companies and with companies' supervisors. DTU Diplom has a long tradition for cooperation with Danish industry and about 85-95% of our students complete theirs Bachelor thesis in companies. In this paper, we describe different ways we cooperate with companies in order to ensure that most of our students have the possibility for internship in industrial companies and subsequently complete their Bachelor thesis in the same company. This university- industry cooperation benefits students, companies and university, because our students get skills necessary for their future jobs by direct participation in companies' everyday work.

Finding ways to bridge the gap between technological knowledge and local knowledge is a fundamental socio-technical challenge. This chapter re-examines data with residents in nursing homes with the purpose of investigating opportunities for bringing the older adults’ local knowledge into the innovation of technology for ageing populations. The older adults in the study were all physically and/or mentally frail and all possessed knowledge about being an older adult and a resident in a nursing home. The analysis showed that the older adults’ participation in technology innovation was mainly indirect; in cases of direct participation the communication about technology was difficult and characterised by pleasantries. However, the older adults provided rich insights about their everyday routines and memories via observations, thus, giving designers access to local knowledge about being an older adult living in a nursing home. Finding ways to embrace and include this local knowledge requires a conceptual understanding of participation. The chapter contributes a conceptualisation of ‘invisible users’, i.e. people who are frail and considered difficult to engage in technology innovation. The findings contribute a perspective on ‘dimensions of participation’ as pivotal for designers who aim to bring this target group’s knowledge into technology innovation for ageing populations.

Highlights • Museum face increasing challenges in europe. • A delphi study was conducted in france. • 3 scenarios are presented., The purpose of this article is to describe the possible futures of French museums up to 2030. To do this we rely on a Delphi study that took place between late 2017 and early 2018 with 99 experts from the field. We propose three scenarios. The first aims to create museums centered around youth and to democratize culture. The second corresponds to the reaction of museums facing a decrease in public funding. The third is a breakdown scenario, where museums undergo evolutions. In this latter scenario, a direct participation of nearby stakeholders is observed, unlike the other two scenarios.

PurposeThe research reported here aims to explore the problems facing individuals searching for information about available options in choosing care services.Design/methodology/approachIt presents data drawn from an on‐line survey, follow‐up telephone calls and a focus group, which reveals the preferences people have in searching for information about care services and the difficulties encountered.FindingsIt finds that people need information but find it complicated, unwieldy and inaccessible. In addition to using on‐line sources, they value person‐to‐person contact and information tailored to meet their specific needs.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is original in raising issues and presenting findings that open up the topic of information in care decision‐making. While it relies on a self‐reporting survey and the direct participation of a small number of subjects, future research based on random sampling and a larger sample of subjects would enable these findings to be tested more thoroughly.Practical implicationsHigh quality, accurate information is an essential element in enabling individuals to make appropriate choices about the care they seek for themselves or their loved ones. Service providers, councils and commercial undertakings each have a part to play in facilitating that choice.Social implicationsThis research highlights issues that confront both information searcher and provider, making recommendations about overcoming them. The concept of individual choice is a cornerstone of social policy but findings reveal the complexity facing individuals, providers and practitioners in making this a reality.Originality/valueThe importance of information in making decisions about care is under‐researched; this study raises issues and presents findings which open the topic for further exploration.

This chapter is concerned with the cycle involving the preservation of the conditions for empowerment, and the following need for more permeability in the political decision making processes. First, I comment on the ways in which the Internet calls for a different understanding and application of some relevant constitutional rights in order to allow the reproduction of the Internet’s empowerment potential. I present the possibilities for the recognition of a right to Internet access in Brazil; then I discuss the implications and application of the right to freedom of expression in online interaction; and finally I turn to the power shifts that have prompted a deep reflection on copyright law. The last section is dedicated to a brief note on the networked movement that started in June 2013 in Brazil, followed by an analysis of the achievements and caveats of the most important post Internet initiatives to allow direct participation in the decision making processes in Brazil.

This chapter deals with the encounter between budgeting administrators and union representatives. Two fascinating aspects of outsourcing emerge in the encounter: the fragmentation of social services hampering unionization and the effects of union, and administrators’ insistence that they should not fund any aspect of skill, occupational training or support of employees. Furthermore, they insist on avoiding all possible forms of direct participation by union representatives. In this way the chapter clearly exposes the main ideological motivation behind the outsourcing of services: the defeat of public sector unions in both their older and newer forms. Given the level of administrative hostility and the extent to which fragmentation defies unionization, the chapter concludes that in the context of outsourcing, unions cannot operate on their own and must be supported by broader social coalitions.

The highlight of this enclosure is the institution of public listening. This is a new form of work of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, and one of the forms of direct participation of citizens in the performance of public government. Public listening enables citizens to participate directly in the legislative procedure and decision making on laws and other acts which are adopted by the National Assembly.

Despite widespread acceptance of the notion that studies of the past provide tangible benefits, academic historians usually remain reluctant to apply "lessons" from history to the realms of public and business policy. This article suggests reasons for that reluctance while also suggesting that historians of technology can make valuable contributions to the policy community. In particular, these professionals can employ tools and insights developed in their field to highlight the social contexts in which technology evolves, helping decision makers understand why specific policies may or may not accomplish stated goals. The article also suggests means by which historians can influence policy, such as through their teaching, their writing and speaking to lay ! audiences, and their direct participation in government bodies. Due to institutional disincentives for this nontraditional activity, however, historians interested in policy work should already have acquired secure, tenured positions within their academic institutions.

The participation of citizens in the decision-making of a community is the essence of a democracy. As the number of citizens grew, direct participation became utopia and delegated to elected representatives. The spread of internet allied to the population pressure for transparency in government's decisions brought mass participation back to the table. The communication channels are there, though citizens' participations have not been effective frequently because their suggestions are not mature. This paper presents a method, maturity in decision-making (MDM), for measuring the maturity of a group for a decision considering the risk of group-thinking, shallow analysis or even polarisation. We have applied the method in two scenarios with promising results.

The present document resulted from an expert process initiated and conducted by the ICRC from 2003 to 2008. Dr. Nils Melzer, Legal Adviser at the ICRC, who has been responsible for the expert process since 2004, is the author of the Interpretive Guidance and most background documents and expert meeting reports produced during the process. The ICRC would like to express its gratitude to the experts, all of whom participated in the process in their personal capacity.

This article lays out some of the key issues driving organizations' increasing interest in enterprise content management (ECM). It then problematizes both the rhetoric that technology developers are using to sell ECM technologies to business leaders and the assumptions on which business leaders are basing critical technology implementation decisions. Finally, it argues why technical communicators must take action—through direct participation in the ECM discourse—to shift the rhetoric that is structuring the ECM debate and thus shaping the potential of the field of technical communication.

The filing of patent applications by universities remains a debat- able issue in Europe more than 25 years after the Bayh Dole Act in the U.S.A. The European Commission and several national governments are currently exert- ing pressure on universities to take a more active part in the innovation process. The importance of university research as a source of technology is increasing in the knowledge economy, which is characterized by open innovation. The fund- ing of research may eventually be at stake. Patent applications are essential instru- ments in the knowledge-transfer process. They enable universities to reconcile their mission of disseminating knowledge with a direct participation in innova- tion. They contribute to the development of new products, to the funding of more collaborative research with industry, and to the creation of new compa- nies. This article offers guidelines for making the filing of patent applications by universities consistent or even synergistic with their other missions. Yet, despite all these considerations, the propensity of European universities to file patent applications is 5 times lower than in the U.S.A., which is also reflected in the other knowledge-transfer indicators. This article suggests two reasons for this lower propensity: the mindset of the mostly independent European universities based on the Humboldt model and the much less attractive European patent system for universities.

This article describes a case study of a new venture by the children's theatre company Oily Cart to develop a participatory theatre piece for carers and their under-two-year-olds, entitled Clouds. Given what little is known about how to design and conduct arts events with this age phase, a case study offered the opportunity to identify features and factors which might then pertain to other, similar ventures. At a time of rapid expansion in arts opportunities for the very young, it is important to move beyond the usual evaluation procedures to research such arts occasions in more depth. The study adopted the usual case study design of collecting data from many, varied sources including documentation, observations of performances, interviews and direct participation. Although orientated by some initial guiding questions, the study remained open to foci as they emerged. In particular the reseacher became interested in the nature of the experience for the very young children and their carers. This, in turn, t...

Public sector reform has focussed attention on how different models of change can contribute to organizational metamorphosis. Traditional “top down” approaches are unlikely to achieve the necessary change. Instead, using a case study of an Irish public sector organization, this article argues that direct participation, involving frontline staff, can play a key role in ensuring acceptance of change and in creating the conditions for employees to make effective contributions to their organization. Direct participation plays a vital role in employee development. However, it also places demands on organizations to adopt a more facilitative and supportive style of management and to put in place mechanisms that will ensure that participation becomes an integral part of the work process.

Children’s participation in cityplanning and design has enjoy ed increased interest among policymakers, designers, and researchers. This activitybuilds on a well-established bodyof research and practice that suggests that urban environments are best planned with the direct participation of children and youth. We believe that this work has reached a stage of maturityin need of critical re£ection and review so that it can be more eiective in the future. This paper presents a historical and critical review of children’s participation in cityplanning and design. Past participatoryeiorts with children are discussed as seven realms or approaches to their child participation. We characterize these realms as advocacy, romantic, needs, learning, rights, institutionalization, and proactive. We propose a seventh, proactive realm as a more integrative and eiective wayto involve children in design and planning. Utilizing the authors’ own projects as brief case studies as well as research of others, bene¢ts as well as limits to participation are identi¢ed. Special emphasis is placed on developing critical theorythat can be used in future research and practice. # 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd

This work of research and development seeks to present a proposal of digital mediation for direct public participation during electoral periods. The proposal includes a conceptual and functional model and the corresponding proof of concept –a web application named iLeger. In summary, this application supports collaborative interactions such as questions, answers, suggestions, ratings, comments and live debates, and was specifically designed to gather, in a single neutral deliberative and regulated space, the main stakeholders in an electoral campaign, fostering multidirectional communication (synchronous and asynchronous) and sharing between them. This chapter also includes the results obtained from the use of the iLeger platform in the electoral campaign for the Portuguese Parliamentary and Local Elections held in 2009, the 2010 election of the Head of the Portuguese Medical Association and the Presidential and Parliamentary Elections held in 2011 in Portugal. The developing effort was conducted taking into account an Agile strategy which is briefly reported in the development process.

This paper seeks to elucidate the phenomenon of employee direct participation (EDP) in contemporary Britain and Australia. EDP encompasses a range of practices, which involve some degree of communication and consultation between management and employees or delegation of responsibility for tasks. We utilize workplace and employee data from the 1995 Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey (AWIRS95) and the 1998 (British) Workplace Employee Relations Survey (WERS98) to assess the extent of usage of various forms of EDP in Britain and Australia. In addition, we assess the extent to which such practices are associated with enhanced employee discretion at work. The results indicate that EDP is widespread in both Britain and Australia, but that it is not associated with enhanced employee discretion.

The European Foundation's EPOC survey results suggest there is a need to reappraise the relative significance of the two main forms of direct participation: consultation and delegation. Unexpectedly, in the light of the very different priority accorded to them in both the policy and scientific debates, not only does a majority of respondent managers regard the consultative forms of direct participation as more important than the delegative forms but the effects of the consultative forms on a range of indicators of performance are also considered to be at least equal to those of the delegative forms. Intriguingly, too, statistical analysis suggests the consultative forms are more likely to be associated with positive employment trends than delegation.

In international discussion of new developments in industrial relations at the workplace there is general agreement on the importance of direct employee participation in the organization of work. This article reports some of the results of a wide-ranging study conducted as part of a project initiated by the European Foundation in Dublin. It analyses the position of the organized industrial relations actors in the 15 countries of the European Union. Its focus is on how they understand the concept of direct participation and how they assess the impact of new participative programmes on company performance, work organization and working conditions, and the established system of workplace industrial relations.

The Essence every proper democracy is characterized by the level of participation of citizens in decision-making for different local issues and affairs. The right of direct participation of citizens in decision-making on local issues proclaimed even by the norms prescribed by domestic legal frame (countries apart) but also internationally, which determine in an almost standardize form the participation of citizens in decision-making such as civic initiatives, gatherings of citizens, referendum, public audience, polls, surveys, petitions etc. Through these forms of participation citizens are directly involved in making decisions about local affairs and issues related to the life and the common interests of the local level. Therefore, people with their participation can influence in decision-making in various fields, such as, in the area of decision-making for local policies dealing with legal acts (regulations and other local acts), plans and programs, as well as concrete development projects at the local level. The object of this paper deals with the most common forms of citizen’s participation in decision making at the local level which are illustrated with some concrete examples on how is regulated by legal norms and practically implemented in some countries with developed democracies: the USA, Great Britain, Switzerland and the countries of Central and Southeastern Europe such as Estonia, Hungary, Kosovo

En el nivel de los principios proclamados, una de las señas de identidad de las democracias occidentales es la participación de la población en la vida política, económica y cultural. En la práctica, sin embargo, la gestión cotidiana de esas esferas corre a cargo de profesionales de la política, corporaciones transnacionales y oligopolios mediáticos. El presente texto trata de recoger las formas de participación de la ciudadanía en el ámbito de la política en un sentido amplio. Si bien la participación indirecta, a través de procesos electorales, ha sido notable durante las tres últimas décadas, la intervención directa en la esfera pública es muy limitada, salvo para una minoría social más activa o en casos excepcionales de movilización colectiva. Tanto los datos aportados por el Barómetro social de España como los sondeos cuantitativos y cualitativos de opinión pública apuntan a que vivimos en una sociedad tecnocrática o plutocrática, más que democrática. El modelo político establecido en España en las últimas décadas ofrece un marco institucional ambivalente para la participación ciudadana: por un lado, se afirma el derecho a la participación y se establecen algunos cauces concretos que antes no existían; por otro, el énfasis en la delegación (mecanismos de representación) impone unos límites precisos a la participación directa en los asuntos públicos. At the level of proclaimed principles, one of the hallmarks of Western democracy is public participation in political, economic and cultural life. In practice, however, the daily management of these areas is provided by professional politicians, transnational corporations and media oligopolies. This paper seeks to collect in a broad sense the forms of citizen participation in the field of politics. While indirect participation through the electoral process has been remarkable in the last three decades, direct intervention in the public sphere is very limited, except for a more active social minority or, in exceptional cases, of collective mobilization. Both the data from the Social Barometer of Spain as well as quantitative and qualitative surveys of public opinion suggest that we live more in a technocratic or plutocratic society rather than a democratic one. The political model established in Spain in recent decades provides an ambivalent institutional framework for public participation: on the one hand, it affirms the right of participation and sets out some concrete ways that did not exist previously; on the other, the emphasis on delegation (representation mechanisms) imposes restrictions on direct participation in public affairs.

Analyses the current focus on empowerment by tracing the changing contours of involvement and participation, both in organizations and in contemporary debate. Based on the changes in involvement strategies – the move from indirect to direct participation and the move from collective representation to individualized involvement and consultation – argues that the logic underpinning interest in empowerment is disempowering.

This article defines direct participation and considers the context in which participation has changed over time. It is concerned with clarifying what is meant by different participation schemes. The article also evaluates the extent to which various practices allow workers to have a say in organizational decisions. Next, it considers the issue of management choice over employee voice and participation. The article then reviews a framework against which to evaluate employee participation, and this is followed by an explanation of the types of schemes used in practice. Furthermore, it considers the impacts on organizational performance and employee well-being that are often claimed to arise from employee participation. The article concludes by reviewing some of the current influences and policy choices in the area of direct employee participation.

The paper focuses on workplace practices aimed at increasing workers’ direct voice, a job quality dimension in the European Employment Strategy for which there are no agreed indicators. It offers an analysis of the theories, debate and research on the impact of workers’ direct participation on jobs’ quality and quantity, including its interaction and tensions with representative participation. It also reviews the main databases available and offers a meta-analysis on the extension of direct participation in a range of European countries. Finally, it reflects on issues for future research.

Direct disputant participation is a vehicle for the delivery of fundamental attributes of mediation, such as self-determination; empowerment; and focus on the individual disputants. However, in court-connected mediation practice, disputants often rely upon a professional spokesperson rather than participating directly. This article examines lawyer attitudes and practices in relation to the direct participation of their clients in court-connected mediation. The lawyer perspective is compared to the traditional mediation perspective of direct disputant participation. That comparison provides some explanation for the nature of court-connected mediation practice. Some implications arising from the trends of disputant participation in court-connected mediation are considered.

This article is part of an ongoing project that examines how different segments of U.S.-Mexico border society carry on cross-border relationships, and how such contact affects their way of life. The focus here is on subgroups on the Mexican side of the border, with an emphasis on economic ties that exist with the U.S. side. The working categories I have devised are based on familiarity with border literature as well as knowledge accumulated through many years of observation and direct participation in the workings of border society. Lack of hard data necessarily makes my typology hypothetical and speculative. Ideally, fieldwork would sustain the generalizations about the various subgroups herein identified, but in the absence of such data my preliminary portrait may prove helpful in formulating strategies on how empirical research on this subject might be carried out. My chief aim, then, is to submit this conceptualization of border society for discussion and further reflection and refinement.

This chapter analyses the new participation process within public organizations at federal level in Switzerland, following the Confederation Staff Act 2002. It is based on a review of the literature and semi-structured interviews with three groups of actors: eight members of newly created staff committees, eight senior officials in the main public-sector unions and four senior executives. The study identifies and examines the main challenges facing staff participation during the next decade. It is underpinned by the fact that the Swiss public sector has undergone marked changes over the past 10 years, driven largely by the New Public Management movement (Emery 2000, Giauque 2003a).

This paper describes developments in broad-based financial participation of employees in their enterprises within the European Union (EU). Broad-based means that all or most employees are eligible for participation in the scheme, in contrast to selective schemes where only certain categories of personnel (in most cases higher staff and management) are eligible. The main objective of this paper is to provide a comparative overview on the nature and extent of financial participation in the EU in the 1990s. It is based on a review of available international research and publications, together with interviews with and reports from national experts. Special attention is given to types of employee share ownership and the relationship with the three other pillars of employee participation: direct participation, representative participation and collective bargaining. For this purpose, the report includes an analysis of the situation in ten countries, based on the findings of the 1996 EPOC (Employee Direct Partici...

This paper reviews the literature on the effects of the use of e-mail on direct participation in decision making (PDM) in organisations. After a brief review of the organisational literature on participation the paper distinguishes e-mail theories on direct participation in three different theoretical perspectives. Then the paper focuses the attention on the role of e-mail in affecting task type, vertical and horizontal communication and their consequences for PDM. Finally the paper presents indications and open questions for future research.

The involvement of workers in corporate supervision and management — through procedures for “codetermination” — is a well known, and much discussed, feature of the German industrial system. The German model of management-worker relationships is institutionalized in the “Betriebsverfassungsgesetz” (business constitution law) and the “Mitbestimmungsgesetze” (laws for codetermination). In addition to these legal requirements, employee participation is also viewed as an instrument of management. The direct participation of workers in management decisions aims to promote increased acceptance by employees of organizational and technological changes and to mobilize the knowledge and abilities of employees in the interests of the company (Ritter 1992).

This paper studies the OHAZURUME philosophy and practice of decision making and consensus building among the Ndigbos (the Igbos) of Nigeria. OHAZURUME, which literarily means ‘it is the communal will; is a, philosophy and practice that ensures that decisions are easily accepted because of its collective properties. Because the issue is decided collectively by the ‘oha’ [the people], no individual can upturn it. OHAZURUME draws from the overall ‘ohaka’[the community is supreme] philosophy and is predicated on the conditions that the matter is tabled openly for discussion, that EVERYBODY is allowed to contribute and that the preponderance of public opinion is upheld as the communal judgment. This paper adopts the participant observation and interview methods and identifies a simple, Nine-stage process of OHAZURUME and establishes that as in other decentralized systems, individual rights and views are respected; individuals accept and respect the communal interest; dissent is accommodated; there is direct participation in decision making and every eligible male has equal right. The paper also undertakes a comparative analysis and discovers that OHAZURUME shares the basic features of other consensus building models like Japanese, Quaker, and CODM, which include group ownership of decisions, participation, and respect for dissention. The paper avers that the key attraction of OHAZURUME is its simplicity. The implication of this study, especially for an international audience is that it develops and articulates a new management concept and practice, enlarges the consensus literature, identifies management philosophies and practices from other climes and expands the dimensions to comparative management.

Despite the optimism which surrounded the advent of quality circles a decade ago, recent research suggests that there are few programmes still functioning. The data on which this article is based were collected in five organizations in central Scotland in the period 1983‐86, when quality circles were in operation or were being introduced. Since then, all but one of the programmes has ceased. The research indicates that the barriers encountered by quality circles are of two kinds: some general to any form of organizational change; others specific to quality circles. In addition, quality circles cannot easily be assimilated into existing organizational power structures but require changes to systems of reward, communication and decision making. Specifically the role played by middle managers is examined. They may see quality circles as a threat to their managerial prerogative and are in a position to impair the circles by denying them the resources (such as time, information, people and finance) they need t...

There is a growing need for more proactive outreach by universities to the wider public to counter the negative publicity surrounding chemistry. At present, most programs aimed at widening participation focus on the potential recruitment of juniors rather than seeking an inclusive approach. The direct participation of adults within university sponsored public events is significantly underrepresented. As such, a pilot study aimed at developing a strategy through which this elusive audience can be engaged was implemented and the results have been critically evaluated. A generic program is detailed that should allow easy transfer and adoption between institutions irrespective of size and community profile.

This article examines the effects of the current economic crisis on education in Zambia, and argues that the crisis has mobilised a remarkable amount of energy among parents, administrators and teachers, which has, paradoxically, helped to implement the recommendations of the Educational Reform document of 1977. Innovations such as production work in schools, teachers’ direct participation in efforts to improve the quality of education and the greater involvement of the community in school construction and maintenance have all challenged the government to introduce greater delegation of decision‐ making, in the interests of both efficiency and self‐reliance.

For the past few years workers' participation in decisions associated with the running of factories has become a much discussed question in Hungarian industrial relations. Shopfloor democracy, however, is much more than a fashionable topic for discussion in industry, science or politics. It is a real social problem waiting for a solution. Workers' participation has emerged as an outcome of a number of recent industrial and socio‐economic advances which have had a major impact on our working class, and on industrial and social processes in our country. This progress has made us question many traditional approaches to the motivation of workers and encouraged us to look for new solutions. One of these is the promotion of the direct participation of workers in shopfloor decisions. Although indirect workers' participation, e.g. through trade union representatives, is of the utmost importance in Hungary and well deserves attention, it cannot be discussed within the compass of the present article, which will be strictly limited to the question of direct participation.

Sweden has introduced schemes of participation widely in its industrial and business organizations. We present in this article data concerning some of the social psychological effects of two forms of participation, indirect and direct, in ten Swedish factories. Indirect participation entails decision making through representatives of the employees; direct participation entails decision making by the employees them selves. Theories propose that participation has the effect of enhancing member reactions such as sense of commitment, favourable attitude and satisfaction in the company and of reducing dysfunctional reactions such as absenteeism. The data from these companies appear consistent with the above theories insofar as direct participation is concerned but not with respect to indirect participation. The data support the view that participation is likely to have the predicted effects on the reactions of members to the extent that participation is felt as a personal experience. Members are likely to feel committed and satisfied, first and foremost to the extent that they perceive themselves personally to have authority to make decisions; second, and in lesser degree, to the extent that they perceive their immediate work group to make decisions, and hardly at all to the extent that they perceive that decisions are made by representatives. These findings are consistent with conclusions drawn earlier by a number of researchers. They are inconsistent with the expectation underlying the laws of participation in Sweden (and in most other countries of Europe) insofar as these laws mandate indirect participation exclusively and are formulated with the expectation that such participation will have the positive psychological outcomes that many advocates of participation claim.

Models of policymaking by regulatory agencies need (1) to avoid focusing on a single causal factor, and (2) include analyses of the costs and efficacy of a variety of instruments—law, budgetary review, appointments, direct participation, evaluative studies—by which external actors can influence agency policy. The article proposes a conceptual framework focusing on advocacy coalitions—that is, actors from a variety of institutions who share a belief system—as a means of dealing with these considerations and as an alternative to the dominant institutional/organizational perspective for understanding policymaking by regulatory agencies.

Nowadays it is no longer a disputed question whether workers are interested and qualified to participate in the design of their work in accordance with their interests. According to recent research in social science as well as to actual discussions on trade union policy it is shown however, that participation in the design of work can only serve the interests of the workers if they have a determining influence on the choice of objectives and the selection of the proposals intended for designing their work. Moreover, the conformity with the workers’ design interests can only be safeguarded if their direct participation is supplemented by the expansion and development of co-determination at all levels, (at the place of work, on the shop floor, in the enterprise, as well as sectionally and regionally).

Nowadays it is no longer a disputed question whether workers are interested and qualified to participate in the design of their work in accordance with their interests. According to recent research in social science as well as to actual discussions on trade union policy it is shown however, that participation in the design of work can only serve the interests of the workers if they have a determining influence on the choice of objectives and the selection of the proposals intended for designing their work. Moreover, the conformity with the workers' design interests can only be safeguarded if their direct participation is supplemented by the expansion and development of co-determination at all levels, (at the place of work, on the shop floor, in the enterprise, as well as sectionally and regionally).

The paper examines the implications of direct participation for employees’ organizational commitment, job satisfaction and affective psychological well-being. It focuses on both task discretion and organisational participation. Applying fixed effect models to nationally representative longitudinal data, the study provides a more rigorous assessment of the conflicting claims for the effects of participation which have hitherto been based primarily on cross-sectional evidence. Further, it tests a range of mechanisms by which direct participation leads to improved employee outcomes. Contrary to the critical literature, it shows that even after controlling for unobserved individual heterogeneity, both forms of direct participation have positive effects for employees’ organizational commitment and well-being. The effects of task discretion are primarily direct, reflecting the intrinsic importance of personal control over the job task; in contrast, those of organizational participation derive to a greater extent from its indirect effect on the quality of working conditions.