Employee participation to TQC implementation : an integrative review including associated constructs

Employee participation is now considered a key element in the successful implementation of new management strategies in manufacturing industry. This paper reviews relevant literature on the various forms of employee participation with emphasis on its role in Total Quality Control. The complexity of the relationship between employee participation and satisfaction and some of the change processes associated with the introduction of Total Quality Control, are also discussed. This information provides the background for a subsequent paper, which presents a longitudinal study of the effects on employee participation and job satisfaction when TQC was implemented in a large Australian manufacturing organisation.