Inside Decision Making For Managed Teams Within Large Organisations: A Case For Partial Participative Management

Abstract

The purpose of the pilot study reported in this paper is to add to the analysis of participative management. In this regard, the study attempts to critically delve into the complexities of managing a team in a large organisation. Since the inception of human resource management (HRM) as a formal discipline much has been much written about management styles and the employee/employer relationship. HRM theoretical frames of reference have gone from the scientific approach to a more humanistic one. Participative management is a popular ideal for today's manager. Through the examination of the literature, a picture is beginning to develop of the strategic and functional decision-making outcomes of partial participative management (PPM) based on teams.

Using a case study approach, participative management based on teams was examined in the context of one of New Zealand's largest companies, Telecom, in which, employees were invited to complete a structured questionnaire. Although the findings support the idea of PPM as a popular and effective management approach, the data highlight some of the pitfalls when adopting a team decision-making process.