Workplace Democracy: A Review of Literature and Implications for Human Resource Development

Recent political, social and economic shifts have significantly changed the way work is carried out and in turn the democratization of organizations has suffered (Deetz, 1992). Technology, globalization, flatter organizational structures, improved skills and competencies and the need to manage knowledge prima facie offer workers opportunities to participate in decision-making and fully experience workplace democracy. It is axiomatic that as work becomes more technological and workers have more access to information that democracy would emerge. However, worker freedoms have shown little sign of increasing and with globalization of the workplace the hope of