Sociotechnical Systems Ideas as Public Policy in Norway: Empowering Participation Through Worker-Managed Change

Abstract

Developments in sociotechnical systems (STS) theory and practice in Norway during the past two decades have closely supported and been supported by public policies aimed at democratizing working life. This article discusses the resulting Norwegian model of democratization through empowering participation, comparing this model to similar ones based on work done in Denmark, Australia, and Germany. The author finds that the resulting general model incorporating the major features of this work, while not widely known, is clearly not limited to Norway. The article identifies some of the consequences of participation under different working conditions and some necessary conditions for empowering participation, andnotes that-although work-place participation is populardemocracy in the work place is more often preached than practiced.