From organizational drivers to employees’ participation: the key role of systems and social influence.

Abstract

Employee participation in continuous improvement activities has been pointed as a key behaviour for the sustainability of CI programmes. Previous research has identified different variables that enhance this requested participation, but a holistic approach is needed to explain the impact that organizational enhancers have on the personal ones. This article contributes to this holistic approach by introducing a model which represents how the organizational drivers foster an appropriate environment that strengthens employees´ participation. Three companies from Northern Spain were studied, and surveys were processed using Partial Least Squares. Results shed light on the inner relationships between drivers themselves and how they influence the organizational environment. Based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour, it can be explained how these organizational level variables strengthen personal perceptions fostering employees´ participation can be explained. This model would allow organizations to understand how to use their efforts to enhance employees’ participation. Keywords: