Participatory ergonomics is an idea whose time has come! There are many approaches which have been utilized by organizations to improve productivity and enhance quality of work life. Participation itself is not a new idea, but because of current organizational and environmental forces for change, new organizational philosophies are emerging which are developed, designed, and operated with participation of the employees concerned and which do result in improved organizational effectiveness and quality of work life. Organizations in the turbulent environments of today must be able to quickly adapt to conditions of change. Many major forces for change have emerged which significantly impact managerial philosophies and behaviors. In this decade, in fact, the rules of business have changed drastically and permanently. Market conditions, foreign competition, and high growth markets are major forces in today's environment along with societal values, composition of the labor force, type of product, and the general business environment itself. An effective approach to management would suggest that it address these forces for change in order to adapt and succeed. No single approach utilizing participatory techniques is universally effective: a contingency approach is advocated. Basic assumptions underlying a contingency model include the notion that no single approach will be effective under all circumstances, and that most approaches utilized today will be effective under a certain set of conditions. It appears that some form of participative management meets current needs primarily because it best suits the labor force, today's technologies, and current societal conditions. The major participative management approaches discussed include quality circles (currently the most popular), job enrichment strategies, cooperative union-management quality of work life programs, gainsharing plans, and the development and operation of self-managing work teams. Also discussed is an emerging innovation in participative management, use of the parallel organization. There are other methods available, to be sure, but these appear to be the principal participative approaches of today. Most participatory approaches and techniques are not new. What is new and very important is the commitment on the part of the organization to adopt what may become organization-wide change strategies through the use of participatory management strategies. The ultimate goal, of course, is to achieve improved organizational effectiveness, product quality, and enhanced quality of work life.
Latvian High-Tech Industry: Trends and Developments