Participative management and its influence on organizational change

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to deal with the influence of a participatory management style along a change process, specifically in seeking to analyze the effect of participative management style on resistance to change and its effects on change performance. Design/methodology/approach After a revision of previous literature, an empirical research is presented to test the existence and signs of the relationships between participation and organizational change. To measure the main concepts, the authors have used scales and other measures already published and through a correlation analysis gain some insight into the relationships among variables. Findings Data suggest that participative management might be giving the members of the organization the necessary tools to question aspects that could endanger changes, thus considering participation as a knowledge broker that sheds light along the change process through the increase of resistance to change sources. Research limitations/implications The main limitation is the reduced sample, as well as the fact that answers are provided by a single respondent. Practical implications This research might help practitioners to look at resistance to change from a positive point of view, therefore, participation might be considered a tool to show potential weaknesses and help change agents to improve change outcomes. Originality/value The paper supports the literature that considers resistance to change positively. Moreover, it provides some hints as to what kind of sources of resistance to change are more important depending on the typology of the change itself.

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