Do National Values of Culture and Sustainability Influence Direct Employee PDM Levels and Scope? The Search for a European Answer

Abstract

The dynamic development of the global economy has led to the creation of agile and innovative organizations that need to adapt rapidly to new challenges. For that reason, organizations need to make decisions that help them face uncertain situations and be successful. Research has demonstrated that employee participative decision making (PDM) promotes more innovative, flexible, and sustainable organizations. The present paper examines organizational, cultural, and sustainable factors to discover how these variables affect PDM in the European context. For this purpose, this study focuses on two main objectives: (1) analyzing the impact of a country’s cultural and institutional values (macro level), beyond individual and organizational characteristics (micro and meso levels), on the adoption of PDM in the European context and (2) differentiating among the types of decisions for which employee participation is considered (operational or organizational). To attain these goals, three hierarchical fitted regression models were fitted using data based on the Sixth European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) and complemented with information from Hofstede’s dimensions, whose scores are obtained from 2010 Hofstede database, and institutional values from the 2015 World Competitive Yearbook (WCY). Results demonstrate that some cultural values are significant for PDM and that sustainability is related to employee participation at the general and operational levels. This allows the conclusion that organizations located in countries with greater sustainability awareness are also those that promote employee participation the most.

Women’s and men’s experiences with participative decision-making at workplace and organizational levels

“…Some past research has found evidence for gender differences in experienced PDM ( Valverde-Moreno et al, 2019 , 2021a , b ), but other research has found no differences ( Kahnweiler and Thompson, 2000 ; Li and Qian, 2016 ). Some studies have included items related to PDM both at the workplace and organization level, however, these studies do not allow for a comparison of results of experienced PDM at both levels, as the responses were either combined into a single PDM scale ( Kahnweiler and Thompson, 2000 ) or items that measure PDM at the organizational level were given more weight due to their greater contribution to the explained variance (European Working condition Survey; Valverde-Moreno et al, 2019 , 2021a ).…”

“…Participative decision-making (PDM) refers to “the opportunity for an employee to provide input into the decision-making process related to work matters […] or organizational issues” ( Valverde-Moreno et al, 2021b ). The link between perceived PDM and positive workplace outcomes is well-established.…”

“…At the workplace level, decision-making focuses on employees’ immediate tasks and decision-making in smaller groups with less far-reaching consequences and less relevance for the majority of employees of the organization. Such decisions regarding work are referred to as task discretion ( Inanc et al, 2015 ; Valverde-Moreno et al, 2019 ) or operational participation ( Valverde-Moreno et al, 2021b ). Examples of workplace level decision-making include: employees’ being able to indicate the order of their tasks ( Valverde-Moreno et al, 2019 , 2021b ) or highlight their training needs ( Kahnweiler and Thompson, 2000 ).…”

“…Such decisions regarding work are referred to as task discretion ( Inanc et al, 2015 ; Valverde-Moreno et al, 2019 ) or operational participation ( Valverde-Moreno et al, 2021b ). Examples of workplace level decision-making include: employees’ being able to indicate the order of their tasks ( Valverde-Moreno et al, 2019 , 2021b ) or highlight their training needs ( Kahnweiler and Thompson, 2000 ).…”

“…In contrast, at the organizational level decision-making has more far-reaching consequences, which are of relevance for larger groups of employees. Such decisions regarding organizational visions, goals, and missions have been referred to as strategic ( Mooney, 2022 ) or organizational participation ( Inanc et al, 2015 ; Valverde-Moreno et al, 2019 , 2021b ). Examples of organizational decision-making include: employees being consulted before the setting of objectives ( Valverde-Moreno et al, 2019 , 2021b ); or being included in decision-making regarding policies and rules ( Kahnweiler and Thompson, 2000 ).…”