ABSTRACT
The question of industrial democracy has eveolved over the past century, assuming different aspects and names. This chapter proposes a methodological framework with nine variables to calculate an Organizational Democracy Degree (ODD). These variables are grouped into three blocks: economic-legal, organizational- strategic, and structural-hierarchical aspects. They are supposed to vary from a minimum ODD, corresponding to a typical large capital-based corporation (a pure KMF), to a maximum, corresponding to a small cooperative (a pure LMF). The chapter focuses on conceptualizing and operationalizing the three measures related to hierarchical authority, demonstrating that a (relatively) democratic hierarchy and a nondemocratic nonhierarchical organization are possible. It also discusses the epistemological and methodological implications of operationalizing ODD, including using a multi-attribute utility function or logically and empirically independent variables. Following the latter option, a grid is created to compare organizations over time with outranking algorithms, allowing for ordinal scales and recognizing discontinuities between different types of organizations. This method reveals distinctions between organizations through empirical analysis, instead of a priory assumptions. This chapter highlights hybrid forms, where an LMF grows and adopts KMF-like economic-legal aspects and strengthens its structural hierarchy. Finally, it examines how size scaling affects ODD.
