Participative Management and Culture: A Qualitative and Integrative Study in Five European Countries

This qualitative cross-cultural study explores and compares the meaning, enactment and context of participative management in five European countries. The study takes a holistic perspective, builds on existing research and integrates the findings into earlier research. Elements of the Grounded Theory method characterise the study’s methodological approach, which includes theme-focused interviews with managers from the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Poland and Sweden. The findings suggest distinct country-specific models of participative management. Decision type, time-related issues and conflict are the factors, which most prominently influence the use of participation. The findings are further characterised by convergence as well as divergence among the five countries under study. Main chapters include: • Introduction laying out the scope of the study: Participation, culture and integration as central elements of the research design. • Literature review referring to participation from a conceptual and cross-cultural perspective. • Research focus detailing the development of research questions, study goals and criteria for country selection. • Summary description of three quantitative studies into participation, which are subsequently used for integration with the findings of the current study. • Methodological considerations including description of adaptations to the Grounded Theory method in the current study. • Within-country analyses of the Czech, Finnish, German, Polish and Swedish data including the development of country-specific models of participative management. • Inter-country analysis discussing convergence vs. divergence among the five countries. • Final theory building, including the presentation of a contingency model of participative management, conclusions and outlook.