Worker Participation, Organizational Climate and Change

Extensive international empirical research supports the argument that companiesthat have adopted new organizational and human resource management practicesas ‘bundles’ have been able to achieve significant benefits in both productive andfinancial terms (Antila and Ylo¨stalo, 1999; Appelbaum et al., 2000; Cully et al.,1999; Goudswaard and Dhondt, 1999; Huselid, 1995; Ichniowski et al., 1997; Layet al., 1999; Whittington et al., 1999).The aim of this developmental discussion paper is to present and discussresearch in progress on the efficacy of a particular human resource managementpractice – organizational climate surveys – especially for enhancing worker participation.The chapter is structured as follows.In the first section we present some of the principal European recommendationsfor worker participation and involvement. We then describe the role oforganizational climate surveys in the protection of workers’ personal rights andfreedom of opinion.After presenting the research design and methodology, we describe a matrixconsisting of four categories of organizations (Trendy, Evolutionary, Cynical,Fatalistic) which differ according to two main variables: attitudes to organizational change and the willingness to repeat the survey. We conclude by discussing somesuggestions for further research.