Customer Reviews

The Age of Participation

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Companies like to say that they encourage their employees to participate thoroughly in the business, but when it comes to actually handing over power to their subordinates, many executives balk. Patricia McLagan and Christo Nel say that companies and bosses that refuse to take the participatory plunge are doomed to extinction. In The Age of Participation, they present the concept of participation - the active involvement of all employees or citizens in every aspect of running an organization - as a worldview, not just a business method. Sure the book contains more than its share of platitudes, but it is well written and never dry. And it balances its more utopian pronouncements with some practical observations about the performance of companies that have implemented participatory strategies and some insightful points on the role of common sense in business decision making. We [...] recommend this book to executives and mid-level managers, particularly change managers and human resource professionals.

ON THE PLUS SIDE...this comprehensive book does an excellent job of distinguishing between authoritarian and "participative" workplaces. The authors argue persuasively that the former, though dominant, are inadequate for the quality and productivity requirements of our times. In addition, they note the ethical superiority of participation. ON THE MINUS SIDE...I was disappointed with the book's treatment of two key concepts: "stakeholders" and "consent of the governed" (employees). To my mind, McLagan and Nel deal with consent too lightly and with involvement of all stakeholders too heavily. The result is that "participative" struck me as far short of "democratic" (though no doubt even the former will seem drastic to those mired in authoritarianism). Yet I suspect the authors believe that prosperity and morality require a democratic work world. THE BOTTOM LINE? One reader's strong recommendation that the *The Age of Participation* be widely read and discussed.