Employee’s right to participate in managerial decision making

Explain what you take to be the strongest argument in defense of an employee’s right to participate in managerial decision making. Explain what you take to be the strongest argument against such a right. Which argument do you find more persuasive?

The strongest argument in the defense of such argument is that employees need to be empowered to be able to have a say in the managerial decision making. Employees are the ones who have a direct contact with the customers and they know what the real concerns of the customers and clients are. Research has indicated that the level of leadership empowerment has a positive correlation with employee creativity (Zhang& Bartol, 2010). It is obvious that the leaders and managers who engage employees in the decision making process can take advantage of the creative solution these employees may come up with and hence businesses processes may be improved.

For me, the main argument against giving the employees the right to participate in the managerial decision making is the risk of sensitive corporate information being leaked. Engagement of employees in the key management decisions may pose a security risk.

I believe that participative form of decision making is the best solution to the decision making process. Employees should be included in the decision making process by managers. The stakeholder theory suggests that management has to consider the consequences of their decisions (Desjardins, 2014). Engaging the employees could help in diluting this responsibility in my opinion. The question of this action being correct or not is another issue beyond the scope of this discussion.