ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines a broad conceptual framework for participation in organizations and provides an overview of some defining dimensions of participatory social arrangements in organizations and their often complex interdependences. It discusses the social theories underlying participatory social systems and the values and goals each of them implies for participation, the major properties of participatory systems, the outcomes of participation in organizations, and the contextual characteristics of participatory systems which limit or enhance their potential. The chapter presents a multidimensional, dynamic social phenomenon, the study of which transcends questions unique to any given discipline paradigm and which requires an integration of micro and macro questions. Critical to the analysis of participatory systems is the point at which organization members gain access to the flow of information relevant to a particular decision. Participation as a social system is a complex and dynamic product of human action.
