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In this article I reanalyze a recent review of research on relationships between participation and performance or satisfaction: next I compare the results of this reanalysis with the findings of 10 other reviews. Despite ostensible differences among the initial findings of the 11 reviews, further analysis indicates that they all support the same conclusion: Research suggests that participation can have statistically significant effects on performance and satisfaction, but the average size of these effects is small enough to raise concerns about practical significance.
Participation is a process in which influence is shared among individuals who are otherwise hierarchical unequals (Locke & Schweiger, 1979; Wagner & Gooding, 1987a). Participatory management practices thus balance the involvement of managers and their subordinates in information-processing, decision-making, or problem-solving endeavors. Many managers, union leaders, and writers in the business press share the belief that such practices have substantial, positive effects on performance and satisfaction at work (e.g., Bernstein, 1993; Bluestone & Bluestone, 1992; Hoerr, 1989; Katzenbach & Smith, 1993: Petersen, 1991). So, too, do a number of researchers, many of whom have cited a review article by Cotton, Vollrath, Froggatt, Lengnick-Hall, and Jennings (1988) as support for their position (e.g., Castrogiovanni & Macy, 1990; Chalos & Haka, 1991; Graham & Verma, 1991; Hames, 1991; Hatcher, Ross, & Collins, 1989, 1991; Macy, Peterson, & Norton, 1989: Parsons, Liden, O'Connor, & Nagao, 1991: Russell, 1988; Schwartz, 1989; Steel & Mento, 1987; Yammarino & Naughton, 1992).
However, other researchers have raised questions about participation's ability to affect performance and satisfaction in the workplace (Ferris & Wagner, 1985; Locke & Schweiger, 1979). Some reviewers have suggested that research on participation's efficacy provides only mixed support (Schweiger & Leana, 1986; Yukl, 1989). Others have concluded that research has failed to detect strong relationships of any sort (Wagner & Gooding, 1987a, 1987b). Still others have focused in particular on the review by Cotton and colleagues, contending that it is flawed methodologically and that its findings should therefore be interpreted with caution (Leana, Locke, & Schweiger, 1990).
Cotton, Vollrath, Lengnick-Hall, and Froggatt (1990) have responded by disputing most criticisms and by reiterating their conclusion that certain forms of participation have strong positive effects, and their 1988 review continues to be cited with little apparent reservation (Chalos &...