Participatory management: a case study in a high tech Brazilian plant

The implementation of participative management (PM) in a high-tech chemical plant recently installed in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is analyzed. This industrial company started with an authoritarian management model and later adopted PM along with a total quality program, aiming at changing the hierarchical structure, at developing a cooperative environment and at improving human relations. It could be observed that in traditionally authoritarian cultures, these changes create conflicts. The conflicts emerged from the lack of clear strategies for promoting the necessary cultural changes at all hierarchical levels. One can conclude that the implementation of PM is affected in cases of crises due to a tendency to apply punishment and authoritarian measures. It is also concluded that the workers´ participation is restricted to the search for operational cooperation on the shop floor, being excluded from any higher level of participation. Moreover, the lack of an effective change in organizational culture may turn participatory management into a less evident control mechanism than conventional managerial methods, but also into an instrument for improving productivity