2.14. DEVELOP A CLIMATE OF PARTICIPATION
Participation is the right climate for the management of R&D laboratories. Participation makes especially good sense in the case of the management of research. Lawler (1991) argues that it makes sense in any organization, but the kinds of factors that make it desirable are found in particular abundance in R&D laboratories.
Lawler makes the point that participation means moving rewards, knowledge, power, and information flow to the lowest possible levels of an organization. He states, "My prediction is that for participative management to be effective it must put power, rewards, knowledge, and an upward and downward information flow in place at the lower levels of an organization. Limited moves in this direction will, according to this view, produce limited or no results." Thus, he criticizes many of the proposed panaceas of contemporary U.S. management (such as quality circles, the employee survey feedback, job enrichment, work teams, union management teams, quality-of-work-life programs, gainsharing, and the new-design plants) as doing only some of the job and so achieving only part of the results. In his last chapters, he describes the kind of organization that he sees as optimally participative and successful in the way it deals with organizational change.
The most important point made by Lawler is that there must be congruence between the management actions in the areas of power, reward, knowledge, and information flow. If a management method reduces the level of decision making in one of these ways but not the others, the effect would be much less desirable than if all four attributes (power, rewards, knowledge, information) were to change together.
The management philosophy that should characterize participative management is as follows:
People should be treated fairly and with respect.
People want to participate (this is particularly true in the case of highly educated samples, such as researchers).
When people participate, they accept change.
When people participate, they are more committed to the organization.
People are a valuable resource because they have ideas and knowledge.
When people have an input in decisions, better solutions are developed.
Organizations should make a long-term commitment to the development of people because that makes them more valuable to the organization (this is particularly true in R&D organizations).
People can be trusted to make important decisions about their work activities.
People can develop the knowledge to make important decisions about the management of their work activities.
When people make decisions about the management of their work, the results are high satisfaction and organizational effectiveness.
This perspective requires an organizational structure that has very few levels. A structure comprised of a director, a manager level, and researchers organized in functional or disciplinary groups, is sufficient. The fundamental grouping should be organizational units that are responsible for a particular product or customer or research area. People should be able to identify with their work group. Each unit should serve some customer and receive feedback about customer satisfaction. Members of the unit should know precisely what the budget is and how it is being spent. They should know what is expected of them from various customers (e.g., funding agencies). They should receive feedback concerning their success in satisfying these customers. Ideally, information about the performance of the unit should be available at frequent intervals. Widespread use of computer networks has improved feedback.
The physical layout of the work group should be egalitarian, safe, and pleasant. The same informal dress should be worn by all. The physical layout should create team boundaries.