The International Journal of Human Resource

Management

ISSN: 0958-5192 (Print) 1466-4399 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rijh20

Employee participation and the influence on job

satisfaction of the ‘new generation’ of Chinese
employees

Ying Zhu, Yuhua Xie, Malcolm Warner & Yongxing Guo

To cite this article: Ying Zhu, Yuhua Xie, Malcolm Warner & Yongxing Guo (2015) Employee
participation and the influence on job satisfaction of the ‘new generation’ of Chinese employees,
The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 26:19, 2395-2411, DOI:
10.1080/09585192.2014.990397

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2014.990397

Published online: 17 Dec 2014.

Submit your article to this journal

Article views: 2881

View related articles

View Crossmark data

Citing articles: 29 View citing articles

Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at

https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=rijh20
The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 2015
Vol. 26, No. 19, 2395–2411, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2014.990397

Employee participation and the influence on job satisfaction

of the ‘new generation’ of Chinese employees
Ying Zhua, Yuhua Xieb*, Malcolm Warnerc and Yongxing Guod
a
Australian Centre for Asian Business, International Graduate School of Business, University of
South Australia, Adelaide, Australia; bManagement School, Hunan University, Changsha, China;
c
Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; dSchool of Management, UNSW
Business School, Sydney, Australia
The participation of ‘new generation’ employees in management and their satisfaction
in the workplace, respectively, remain more than ever important issues in the Chinese
societal context in particular, as well as having wider implications for human resource
management in general. This study accordingly explores the influence of employee
participation mechanisms on the satisfaction of this new generation of employees – by
carrying out empirical research in the manufacturing industry in China. The main
theoretical contribution aims to show that the participation of such new generation
employees in management, supervision and decision-making has a significantly
positive impact on their work satisfaction. Furthermore, the employees’ willingness to
participate (participation intention) appears to play a moderating role between actual
participation on the one hand, and satisfaction on the other. Such findings, we argue,
potentially apply not only in the societal context of China but might also resonate more
widely across other countries in the global economy.
Keywords: China; decision-making; employee involvement; employee participation;
employee satisfaction; HRM; new generation employees

Introduction
In recent years, the People’s Republic of China (henceforth referred to as China) has
experienced serious ‘labour management’ conflicts with a number even leading to young
workers’ suicides (see Zhu, Thomson, & De Cieri, 2008). These have generated
worldwide media headlines, as there have been large-scale strikes on the mainland in a
number of cases (see BBC News, 2014; Chan, 2012; CLB, 2013). Among such
occurrences, the majority of employees involved have been identified as belonging to the
‘new generation’ of workers (xinshengdai yuangong), namely those who were born in
the 1980s and 1990s, similar to the ‘Generation Y’ in western culture; the Chinese use the
terms ‘post-1980s’ and ‘post-1990s’ generations (namely balinghou and jiulinghou).
Hence, a ‘new generation employee’ can be defined as someone in a ‘youth-category’
born after 1980 (thus post-1980s and post-1990s) and who subsequently entered the labour
market and workplace after completing secondary education. These ‘new generation’
employees grew up in the period just after the launch of Deng Xiaoping’s economic
reforms in 1978 (see Pringle, 2011). With better economic and material conditions, as well
as a different, perhaps even more challenging social environment, this generation, who
show more willingness to ‘change the world’, are seen by many scholars in the field
as more eager to participate and express their opinions in more open ways, both at
their workplace and in the wider public sphere (see Ren, Zhu, & Warner, 2011; Su, 2007).

*Corresponding author. Email: xieyuhua66@163.com

q 2014 Taylor & Francis

2396 Y. Zhu et al.

Their ‘personality identity’ is also seen as more confident, precocious, independent, open
and transparent, self-centred with an enhanced sense of autonomy and a high degree of
involvement (Zhou, 2007). Given the current contextual factors in China (e.g. one child
policy), Ren, Zhao and Wei (2009) identified some new characteristics of new
generation employees, such as paying more attention to fairness and justice, disdain for
traditional hierarchies and willingness to accept more democratic and equal
communication styles. Often, new generation workers are internal migrants and they
are more educated, more mobile and more concerned about working conditions than
their parents (see Wang, Pan, & Heerink, 2013). They have higher expectations of urban
life, are more ambitious and are keen to settle in the cities. The new generation of
migrant workers are said to make up more than half of the 230 million migrant workers
in China (see Jiang, 2013).
However, the reality is that management practices in many workplaces are still based
on residual modes of behaviour left over from the old pre-reform ‘command economy’
system, as well as from its ‘paternalistic’ managerial thinking (see Warner, 2014). Many
companies are not yet ready to make the necessary changes that are needed to
accommodate the ‘generational change’ in China’s workforce. Examples of the above,
such as the lack of employee participation mechanisms, alongside old-style bureaucratic
management systems, may be at the root of the higher labour turnover reported among new
generation employees and the lower levels of satisfaction and commitment to their
companies (Zhu, Warner, & Feng, 2011). In the present study, we argue that it is timely to
investigate what has happened in Chinese workplaces regarding new generation employee
participation, and the management innovations needed to overcome the challenges
involved (see Dowling, Festing, & Engle, 2013).
To date, most research on new generation employees in the Chinese context has
focused on individual characteristics, influential factors, withdrawal intentions, major
incentives and the wider organisational agenda in the human resource management
(HRM) context. This emphasis has been not only on analysing factors related to new
generation employees themselves but also on organisational aspects, in particular
management systems and associated practices. In China, however, this area of research is
still only based on a limited number of publications related to western-based research
findings, alongside empirical research based on Chinese firms, many being replications
according to recent critiques of the field (see, e.g. Warner, 2008, 2011, 2012).
In this specific societal context, we explore the key question of whether ‘new
generation’ employee participation in management, supervision and decision-making has
a significantly positive impact on their work satisfaction. We also seek to explore if
employees’ willingness to participate (participation intention) appears to play a
moderating role between actual participation on the one hand, and satisfaction on the
other. The empirical research we have carried out specifically focuses on the Chinese
setting of such participation, but we would go on to argue that it has wider implications for
HRM in general in the global economy.
In this study, we targeted a number of large manufacturing companies, particularly
those involved in car manufacturing, given that these kinds of firms employ a large number
of new generation employees, as we shall explain in more detail in the methodology
section. Such workers interact with more systematic management mechanisms, structures
and practices in these kinds of plants than in less technologically advanced ones.
In addition, many of these large manufacturing companies have already experienced
serious labour management conflicts which emerged over half a decade ago, such as
strikes at the Changan Ford Company in 2009, the Nanhai Honda dispute in 2010 and the
 The International Journal of Human Resource Management 2397

BYD workers’ industrial action in 2011, among others which have occurred up to the time
of writing (see BBC News, 2014; CLB, 2013; Zhu et al., 2011).
A noted authority on the subject Professor Anita Chan has observed that the Honda
strike in 2010, for example, set new boundaries: ‘This is a remarkable development. Most
strikes in China tend to be about not being paid or being mistreated. This was different.
The workers were demanding very high salaries. They want to elect union leaders
democratically’ (cited in Barboza, 2010, p. 1). This observation thus suggests that the
behaviour of new generation employees is distinctly different from that of previous
generations (see Chan, 2011; Chan, 2012; Pringle, 2011). Labour management conflict
continues to the present day, as the tensions in Chinese society remain in flux (see Warner,
2014).
Eventually, three key implications may be identified through our findings, namely (1)
industrial democracy needs to be developed as it is one of the crucial elements for the
success of Chinese and other transitional economies; (2) workplace harmony, as part of
HRM developmental agenda of ‘creating social harmony’ in Chinese and other Asian
economies, needs to be developed; and (3) enhanced management initiatives need to be
developed in order to fully utilise potential talent as part of new people-management
systems. In the following sections, we will elaborate these key issues based on the relevant
literature, the background of related research in China and our case analysis.

Literature review
Employee participation
Looking back, the concept of ‘employee (or worker) participation’ can be traced back to
the early nineteenth century, and possibly earlier (see IDE Group, 1980, 1981; Poole &
Warner, 1998). With the ‘Industrial Revolution’, workers were set to work in a range of
differently sized workplaces, some being small workshops, others large factories. One of
Marx’s major sociological insights was to see that gathering workers together in such large
sites would engender ‘alienation’ and ‘conflict’ (see Dahrendorf, 1959; Dolgoff, 1974;
IDE Group, 1981; Wheen, 2001). The concept of ‘industrial democracy’ was later
introduced into the social sciences vocabulary at the end of the nineteenth century by the
Webb and Webb (1911), together with ‘union democracy’ and ‘the method of collective
bargaining’ (Kaufman, 2014; Muller-Jentsch, 2008). In recent history, however, the
concept of ‘industrial democracy’ has shifted its focus, with more emphasis on ‘workers’
participation’ at shop-floor level and ‘co-determination’ at company level (see Blumberg,
1968; Hammer, 1998; Poole, 1986, 1992; Warner, 1984; Wilkinson, Gollan, Marchington,
& Lewin, 2010; Windolf, 1993).
Since then, what was subsequently dubbed as ‘employee participation’ has referred to
the possibility of employees participating in decision-making, ascending on a ‘ladder of
participation’ (Arnstein, 1969; Chang, 2005; Li, Nahm, Wyland, Ke, & Yan, 2014).
An organisational participative work environment may help managers better manage their
employees through the way they share information or involve employees in decision-
making (Li et al., 2014; Tesluck, Vance, & Mathieu, 1999; Wanous, Reichers, & Austin,
2000). In addition, there are indications that employee perceptions of a participative
environment are effective predictors of job satisfaction (Miller & Monge, 1986).
Diverse styles of participation emerged, in turn, from the post-Second World War
period of ‘co-determination systems’ in many European countries (Windolf, 1993) from
the 1950s Employee Stock Ownership Plans in the USA (Kelso & Kelso, 1986) to the
1960s quality control circles (QCC) in Japan (Hutchins, 1999), and the 1990s Employee
2398 Y. Zhu et al.

Suggestion Systems based on the initial Eastman Kodak Company’s model (Skip, 1991),
among others.
New initiatives such as self-managing management teams, job design, consultative
groups, employee satisfaction surveys, formal participation in decision-making
mechanisms and collective and individual voice have also been developed in many
organisational settings (see Brewster, Croucher, Wood, & Brookes, 2007; Cohen &
Ledford, 1991; Huang & Gamble, 2011; Looise, Torka, & Wigboldus, 2011; Wilkinson &
Fay, 2011; Wilkinson et al., 2010; Zheng, Morrison, & O’Neill, 2006; Zhu et al., 2008).
In China, a number of so-called ‘democratic management’ mechanisms were to be
introduced over the years, from 1949 and into the next two decades (see Schurmann, 1968)
but many lapsed into inactivity. They were again revived from 1978 onwards, as the
reforming leader Deng Xiaoping was afraid that the Polish ‘Solidarity’ industrial protest
movement would spread to China; he therefore encouraged the creation of workers’
councils as a ‘safety valve’ (see Ng & Warner, 1998; Warner, 2014). In 1988, the 7th
People’s Congress passed ‘the State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Industrial Law’ and
stipulated the establishment of the so-called enterprise-based ‘democratic management
systems’ (the ‘Workers’ Congress’: zhigong daibiao dahui), with multiple functions such
as democratic evaluation of leaders, democratic life meetings, rational suggestion
schemes, open discussion on management affairs and collective negotiation on wages and
working conditions (Chan, 2011; Chan, 2012; Cheng, 2006; Pringle, 2011; Taylor, 2011).
The amended ‘Trade Union Law’ in 2001 with the emphasis on open and transparent
management systems, further encouraged employee participation in management and
developing harmonious labour relations.
On 13 February 2012, a new set of initiatives, the so-called provisions on ‘democratic
management in enterprises’ (the ‘new rules’) were set out by the ‘umbrella’ union body,
the All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU), which is the sole one permitted in
China, claiming nearly a quarter of a billion members, together with other relevant
Chinese authorities, as follows: ‘The New Rules expressly provide that the Workers’
Congress is a democratic organization for employees to participate in the management of
an enterprise. The New Rules apply to all types of enterprises, including state-owned and
privately-owned enterprises’.
The major powers of the Workers’ Congress include reviewing rules or important decisions
made by the enterprises which are directly related to the interests of the employees, making
proposals or opinions, approving execution of collective agreements and electing an
employee director or employee supervisor (if any). (Yu, 2012, p. 1)
In studying the aims, procedures and methods applied in such examples of the so-called
‘democratic management systems’ in China, we can observe a number of commonalities
and contrasts with many employee participation systems in the West as noted earlier.
Following the adoption of the ‘Open Door’ policy in 1978, a large number of foreign
direct investment projects were transferred to China, bringing many new management
practices from the West. As for the many Sino-Western joint ventures, a mixed ‘hybrid’
adoption of both Chinese ‘democratic management systems’ and western ‘employee
participation systems’ was common (see Goodall & Warner, 1997; Warner & Goodall,
2009).
We may also note Feng’s (2002) research on state-stock-holding companies (formerly
SOEs) with employee stock ownership options, as well as Xie’s (2009) research on different
methods of participation, including autonomous work teams, collective negotiations,
information sharing schemes, Workers’ Congresses and worker representatives on peak
 The International Journal of Human Resource Management 2399

bodies such as ‘company supervision committees’. In China, a wide range of large

manufacturing companies, including car-manufacturing firms, have respectively
experienced participative organisational reforms.
In the HRM field, Wall and Lischeron (1977) had earlier suggested three types of
employee participation, namely distance, medium and partial participation. Poole’s (1986)
work on participation focused on economic, personnel and social affairs in its time. Heller,
Pusic, Strauss and Wilpert’s (1998) research on participation specifically emphasised
employees’ ownership, organisational structure, levels of control and participation modes,
and Benson, Young and Lawler’s (2006) research adopted four types of participation,
namely compensation schemes, information-sharing, knowledge-development and power-
sharing.
In China, Wang’s (1994) research developed four types of participation, namely
participation in decision-making, management, supervision and revenue. Additionally,
Liu’s (2006) research compared the participation schemes in Germany and the USA with
the Chinese system.
Given that China has its own unique history and political/economic systems, we
thought it might be useful to adopt a combined set of dimensions for our research. Our
study focused here on three types, namely participation in management, supervision and
decision-making. The reason for not adopting ‘financial participation’ (i.e. sharing profits)
in this research is due finding that there was hardly any form of such participation among
employees within the car-manufacturing industry in China (Xie, 2009).
As the literature has suggested, for example, vis-à-vis the ‘escalator of participation’
(Marchington & Wilkinson, 2005), access to participatory structures, as well as their
depth, range and type, is crucial to exploring participation in a meaningful way.
In the current research, we therefore focus on the three most relevant types of
participation among Chinese enterprises as we discussed earlier. In this project, we focus
on participation in management through the following key routes: providing suggestions
to supervisors for problem-solving, obtaining information from and passing on complaints
to HR departments, company suggestion schemes, rational suggestion systems,
autonomous work teams and QCC. In addition, participation in supervision is also
considered. Here, we point to the function of what have been called democratic life
meetings, employee leadership evaluations and grass-root opinion surveys. Employee
participation in decisions being made and implemented through collective negotiation,
involving the trade union, namely the ACFTU, as well as the Workers’ Congress, is also
important here (see Warner & Zhu, 2010).

Employee participation and employee satisfaction

There have also been substantial research publications on the relationship between
employee participation and employee satisfaction. In the early years, the main focus was
on a single participation element influencing the performance of individuals and
organisations. Locke and Schweiger (1979) reviewed 47 relevant research publications
and found that more than 60% of the research outcomes indicate a positive relationship
between employee participation and their satisfaction but which have little impact on
improving labour productivity. Cotton (1993) also reviewed 91 relevant research
publications and summarised the different employee participation schemes impacts on
employee satisfaction, such as informal participation and employee stock-ownership. In
turn, Wagner (1994) analysed the result of Cotton’s research by using factor-analysis,
comparing it with 10 other relevant articles and obtained the result of employee
2400 Y. Zhu et al.

participation having a positive influence on employee performance and satisfaction,

although the degree of the influence was not very significant. Other research projects
include Cox, Zagelmeyer and Marchington’s (2006) analysis of WER98 data on employee
participation and its influence on employee psychological well-being, which found it had a
positive influence on employee organisational commitment and job satisfaction, as well as
Karatepe and Olugbade’s (2009) investigation of employees in the hotel industry with its
finding of work participation and work support from organisations having a positive
influence on job satisfaction.
In China, all the relevant publications from 1992 to 2013 noted in the China National
Journal Index Database, revealed 194 relevant publications with the majority of them
using qualitative research methods. Research issues were related to such headings as
‘employee or worker participation’, ‘participation in management’, ‘participation in
decision-making’ and ‘participation in supervision’. However, among these publications,
only 15 articles adopted evidence-based research and the others were based on literature
reviews and conceptual discussions. In the area of ‘participation in supervision’, Liu
(2002) claimed that group meetings and satisfaction surveys were important for knowing
employees’ concerns and the level of their satisfaction so that management could make
adequate adjustments, in order to encourage employees to acquire proactive attitudes and a
stronger commitment to sharing information and participating in supervision. Cai (2004)
pointed out that employee participation in decision-making, in particular issues related to
their work, would enable employees to have a better understanding about the rationale
behind the decisions, and at the same time reduce and overcome any misunderstanding of
decisions made by the managers and consequently unhappy feelings among employees.
In terms of ‘participation in management’, Sun and He’s (2006) research identified the
positive relationship between employee participation in management and a good work
environment. Employee participation in management could therefore improve
communication and coordination within organisations and consequently improve
employee satisfaction.
So far, however, no research has been done to date on new generation employee
participation and satisfaction in China as such. Given the different contextual factors in
China and the new characteristics of new generation employees indicated by Ren et al.
(2009), the research on the relevant issues of employee participation by focusing on new
generation employees in China, we believe, may make a meaningful contribution to
knowledge in this field. As Wagner, Leana, Locke and Schweiger (1997) pointed out,
when employees are involved in management and decision-making, they not only have a
greater say in them but also better understand the rationale for them and these lead to a
greater motivation and effort. More employee participation can also result in a better
quality decision and positive personal outcomes (Parnell, Bell, & Taylor, 1992).
Therefore, we propose the first hypothesis as:
Hypothesis 1. New generation employee participation in management, supervision and
decision-making has a positive influence on their satisfaction.

The moderating effect of new generation employee participate intention

The concept of ‘intention’ was firstly raised by Brentano with philosophical and
psychological meanings (see Crane, 1998). In psychology, ‘intention’ refers to an
individual’s behavioural orientation, and for this research, it could be understood as
employee’s willingness to directly and indirectly participate in management, supervision
 The International Journal of Human Resource Management 2401

Employee Employee participation intention

participation

Management Hypothesis 2
supervision
Employee
Decision-making
Hypothesis 1 satisfaction

Figure 1. Research framework.

and decision-making processes. In China, the research on ‘intention’ related issues,

included a survey of 800 post-1980s young volunteers about their willingness to
participate in social activities (Yu, 2009), and Zhou and Liu’s (2010) research identified
that most new generation employees among 10 electronic companies in Chongqing had a
strong willingness to participate and expressed their dissatisfaction with the current
management arrangement with regard to participation opportunities. Again, Wang, Du and
Wang’s (2011) research compared old and new generation employees under the different
influence of old and new media environments and found that the old generation had less
willingness to participate but the new generation has a stronger willingness to participate,
given the influence of the new media environment which emphasises on employees’ rights
and justice.
In recent years, more English language publications on this topic have shifted the
research focus onto the effectiveness of employee participation by linking adoption of
high involvement work systems with work satisfaction, commitment and absenteeism, and
turnover intention under the moderating effect of employee participation intention (see
Zatzick & Iverson, 2011). In China, however, this kind of research is still at an early stage
and so far there has been no evidence-based research published. Some conceptual ideas
have been discussed (see Li, 1989), but no consistent evidence has been established. In this
research project, we adopt the following argument, namely that the new generation
employees have a stronger willingness to participate, or in other words, a higher
participation intention, which we posit is likely to have a positive influence on the
relationship between employee participation and their satisfaction. Therefore, we propose
our second hypothesis as follows:
Hypothesis 2. New generation employee participation intention moderates the
relationship between their participation (in management, supervision
and decision-making) and their satisfaction.
Figure 1 characterises the research framework identifying key issues and their
relationships:

Method
Participants
We carried out our sample selection and survey in the second half of 2011 in five major
industrial regions of China, including the cities of Beijing, Changsha, Guangzhou,
Qingdao and Shenzhen. In total, nine large car-manufacturing enterprises were selected of
a similar size and operating under comparable management systems. Among these firms,
multiple ownerships were selected, including one SOE, one domestic private enterprise,
2402 Y. Zhu et al.

three China-Japan joint venture (JV), one China-USA JV, one China-Germany JV, one
China-South Korea JV and one China-Italy JV. Among these JVs, all the local Chinese
partners were state-owned stock-holding companies. In the first stage, we interviewed a
selection of key HR managers, ACFTU trade union officials and workers in order to
familiarise ourselves with their management system and participation schemes. After this,
a survey questionnaire was sent to around 1000 staff and employees among these nine
enterprises. There were 817 questionnaires returned and 684 questionnaires adequately
answered. The effective response rate was 83.7% and Table 1 presents the details of the
main profiles, including number of employees and proportion of gender in each enterprise.

Measures
In the study, SPSS22.0 and AMOS22.0 were used for statistical analysis, including (1)
reliability analysis of the questionnaires; (2) confirmatory factor analysis; and (3)
hierarchical regression analysis, all intended to test the impact mechanism of new
generation employee participation on satisfaction and the moderating role of participation
intention.

Variable measurement

a. Employee participation: based on the survey of employee relations in the

workplace presented within the F section of the WERS98 (Millward, 2001), the
forms of staff involvement included Employee’s Attitude Surveys, Joint Advisory
Committees, Quality Circles, Workers’ Congresses, and so on. Combined with
Xie’s (2009) study of employees’ involvement in 2008, this study selected 10 items

Table 1. The profile of the targets.

Item Category No. of people %
Gender Male 582 82.8
Female 121 17.2
Age Post-1990s 211 30.0
Post-1980s 492 70.0
Position Employee 530 75.4
Manager 173 24.6
Department Management 79 11.2
Technology 129 18.3
Production 369 52.5
Marketing 52 7.4
Services 74 10.5
Education Under high school 85 12.1
Vocational school 164 23.3
Vocational college 253 36.0
University and above 201 28.6
Monthly wage Below RMB2000 228 32.4
RMB2000 –4000 364 51.8
Above RMB4000 111 15.8
Ownership SOE 112 15.9
DPE 137 19.5
JV 454 64.6
 The International Journal of Human Resource Management 2403

of participation, such as autonomous work teams or QCC, collective wage

negotiations, rational suggestions, democratic evaluation of managers and the like.
By using the five-point Likert scale, respondents were required to choose the most
appropriate answer among the items ‘1. never heard of such a participatory
approach; 2. heard but did not participate; 3. participated only once; 4. participated
several times; 5. participated very frequently’. The higher score refers to the higher
degree of participation.
b. Employee participation intention: according to the forms of participation selected,
the survey tested the new generation employee participation intention. In each item,
we used the five-point Likert scale (1 ¼ very reluctant; 5 ¼ very willing). The
higher score refers to the higher intention to participate.
c. Employee satisfaction: the study defined employee satisfaction as a ‘feeling for’ or
‘attitude to’ the work or work experience, which was measured by the job
satisfaction compressed version introduced by Fieds (2004). Taking the particularity
of the car-manufacturing industry into account, we made the appropriate changes.
The study selected five dimensions: income, job prospects, work condition, working
hours and work environment, and these issues were measured by using the five-point
Likert scale (1 ¼ very dissatisfied; 5 ¼ very satisfied).

Results
The confirmatory factor analysis
Using the data obtained in this research to verify the factor-structure of the new generation
employee participation, Table 2 shows that the three-dimensional structure of the model
appears to fit well and that the data basically support the three-dimensional structure.

Reliability analysis
We conducted a confirmatory factor analysis to examine whether the new generation
‘employee participation’, ‘participation intention’, and ‘employee satisfaction’ scales are
reliable and the results show chi-square/df ¼ 3.368, CFI ¼ 0.901, GFI ¼ 0.903. The
three-factor model was superior to the one-factor model that does not fit the data well, chi-
square/df ¼ 11.368, CFI ¼ 0.552, GFI ¼ 0.667 (Schmitt, Zacher, & de Lange, 2013).
The Composite Reliability scores are 0.706, 0.898 and 0.769 for employee
participation’, ‘participation intention’, and ‘employee satisfaction’ respectively based
on the Cronbach’s alpha analysis.

Hypothesis testing
After analysing the correlation of each variable through SPSS22.0 statistical software, we
summarise the data in Table 3. The results show that: (1) there is a statistically significant
correlation between participation in management, participation in supervision,

Table 2. The confirmatory factor analysis of new generation employee participation scale.

Fit indices
Model
Evaluation indicators RMSEA NFI CFI Chi-square df p-value
Evaluation criteria , 0.08 . 0.90 . 0.90 – – –
Three-dimensional structure model 0.072 0.922 0.937 190.331 41 0.000
2404 Y. Zhu et al.

Table 3. Grand means and correlation coefficient.

Variables Grand means SD 1 2 3 4

1. Participation in management 2.848 0.582 1 0.419** 0.315** 0.266**
2. Participation in supervision 2.208 0.885 0.419** 1 0.407** 0.212**
3. Participation in decision-making 1.955 0.962 0.315** 0.407** 1 0.099**
4. Participation intention 3.453 0.654 0.266** 0.212** 0.099** 1
**Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (two-tailed).

participation in decision-making and employee satisfaction; (2) the grand neans (GM) of
employee participation, and participation in management (GM ¼ 2.848), is higher than
participation in supervision (GM ¼ 2.208), and it is also higher than participation in
decision-making (GM ¼ 1.955). This result is consistent with the car-manufacturing
enterprises’ implementing participatory management, but it is limited to basic elements,
such as the rational suggestion schemes and autonomous work teams. Furthermore,
participation in supervision or participation in decision-making, representing relatively
higher level participation, were low, particularly as democratic participation was in a
symbolic form, without very much involvement of the Workers’ Congress and the
collective negotiation mechanism; and (3) the GM of participation intention is 3.453,
indicating that the involvement intention was generally strong and this is consistent with
previous research findings on high level of participation intention among new generation
employees.
In the regression analysis, the study used unmeasured latent method factor technique
recommended by Podsakoff, MacKenzie and Podsakoff (2012). This technique involves
adding a first-order method factor that only measures are the indicators of the theoretical
constructs of interest that share a common method. The results from this analysis showed
that the common method variance only accounted for a small portion (14.4%) of the total
variance, that is just above half the amount of method variance (25%) observed by
Williams, Cote and Buckley (1989). The result suggests that common method variance is
not a pervasive problem in this study.
To test the impact of employee participation in management, supervision and decision-
making on employee satisfaction, this study used hierarchical regression (see Table 4).
Step 1 shows that participation in management, supervision and decision-making, all have
a positive effect on employee satisfaction though participation in management has the
most significant effect (b ¼ 0.335, p , 0.05) than participation in supervision and
decision-making. Therefore, we find that hypothesis 1 is supported.
To test the second hypothesis, this study made employee satisfaction the dependent
variable and adopted hierarchical regression to illustrate the moderating effect of
participation intention (see Table 4 and Figure 2). When adding participation in
management, supervision and decision-making under the moderation of participation
intention, participation intention has a significant moderating effect on the relationship
between participation in decision-making and employee satisfaction, but less effect
between participation in management and supervision on the one hand and employee
satisfaction on the other. Therefore, the hypothesis 2 is partially supported.

Discussion
By investigating the new generation of Chinese employee participation in management,
supervision and decision-making with the moderating effect of ‘participation intention’,
 The International Journal of Human Resource Management 2405

Table 4. Employee participation, participation intention and job satisfaction.

Job satisfaction
Variables B Std. error t Sig.
Step 1
(Constant) 1.890 0.127 14.940 0.000
Participation in management 0.335 0.048 6.939 0.000
Participation in supervision 0.028 0.033 0.840 0.401
Participation in decision-making 0.070 0.029 2.418 0.016
Step 2
(Constant) 1.626 0.163 10.001 0.000
Participation in management 0.310 0.049 6.314 0.000
Participation in supervision 0.018 0.033 0.541 0.589
Participation in decision-making 0.072 0.029 2.482 0.013
Participation intention 0.102 0.040 2.561 0.011
Step 3
(Constant) 1.644 .162 10.162 0.000
Participation in management 0.303 0.049 6.215 0.000
Participation in supervision 0.006 0.033 0.171 0.864
Participation in decision-making 0.062 0.029 2.153 0.032
Participation intention 0.113 0.040 2.835 0.005
participation in management £ participation intention 0.106 0.070 1.517 0.130
participation in supervision £ participation intention 2 0.046 0.050 20.933 0.351
participation in decision-making £ participation intention 0.123 0.044 2.765 0.006

this research project has attempted to reveal some new and meaningful findings.
We selected new generation employees, namely the post-1980s and post-1990s workforce,
in car-manufacturing companies in different parts of China and found a number of
interesting phenomena.
First, there is a contradiction between the high intention of participation among new
generation employees and the less encouraging participation opportunities in the
workplace. Some basic functions of rational suggestions-schemes and autonomous work
teams are widely adopted but not in the areas of ‘democratic participation’ in decision-
making and supervision, marked by the lack of involvement of the Workers’ Congress and

Figure 2. Moderating effect of participation intention between participation in decision-making

and job satisfaction.
2406 Y. Zhu et al.

the collective negotiation mechanism. This observation demonstrates that the participatory
structures in these Chinese enterprises are very narrow and most of the participatory types
are relatively low on the ‘ladder’. However, the new generation of employees of these
enterprises have a high intention to participate and want to be seen as active citizens within
their organisations.
Second, there is a positive relationship between new generation employee
participation and their satisfaction. All the dimensions indicate that participation in
management, supervision and decision-making positively influence the level of employee
satisfaction and this follows the order of higher participation in management and lower
participation in decision-making and supervision.
Third, the ‘participation intention’ of new generation employees positively moderates
the relationship between employee participation in decision-making and job satisfaction,
but with less effect on participation in management/supervision and job satisfaction.
Turning to the theoretical implications, we would include the following key
observations. First, the new generation employee participation has a positive effect on
their satisfaction in China and this is relatively consistent with previous research in the
West. However, it is difficult to predict that the development of workplace participation
might lead to a more politically democratic movement at the societal level in the country
like China. More complex macro-factors, including ideology, legislative barriers and
Party/State control may still remain the obstacles for adopting fully democratic systems in
the process of a society in transition, perhaps for some years to come.
Second, the new generation employees’ attitude towards the current participation
mechanism being adopted in the workplace has influenced their satisfaction regarding
their workplace. Third, the ‘participation intention’ has a moderating effect on the
relationship between participation in decision-making and job satisfaction and this
provides meaningful implications for HRM theoretical approaches regarding managing
new generation employees.
However, we have to concede that there were limited types of participatory
structures, as well as variance in access, depth and range of participation, among our
sample enterprises and this might not lead to meaningful outcomes as part of the
development of industrial democracy in the workplace as suggested by the literature
(e.g. the ‘escalator’ or ‘ladder’, so to speak, of participation) (Marchington & Wilkinson,
2005). What each of the five stages of the progression may have in common with the
others is that it departs from the older Taylorist position that the division of labour is the
promoter of efficiency in organisations. Instead of employees merely being ‘machine
minders’ doing fragmented tasks, with participation they are actively motivated to
provide solutions, or, at minimum, be aware of changes which may affect them (see
Wilkinson, 1998). Although there have been different forms and patterns of ‘worker
participation’ in the past, ‘employee involvement’ may stand for a ‘novel’ form of
participation from a HRM point of view (see Hyman & Mason, 1995; Marchington
& Kynighou, 2012).
As for the practical implications, first, from a HRM practice perspective, an
organisation should pay attention to developing a higher level of employee participation,
specifically in the areas of participation in supervision and decision-making. A positive
outcome may lead to higher satisfaction among employees through more opportunities for
participation, improving the mechanisms of collective negotiation, adopting the
mechanisms of employee participation in supervision and feedback systems, upgrading
leadership evaluation systems and overall creating a democratic work environment with
open communication mechanisms.
 The International Journal of Human Resource Management 2407

Second, regarding our result of the ‘participation intention’ of new generation

employees has positive moderating effect on the relationship between participation in
decision-making and their job satisfaction, therefore, if organisations do not provide
higher level of participation opportunities and mechanisms, then the level of these
employees’ workplace satisfaction may be much lower.
As for limitations, this research project has a limited sample size in a single-industry
sector. It could perhaps be made more meaningful by including other industry sectors
regarding new generation employee participation and satisfaction, and taking into account
different industrial contextual factors and different levels of employee skill and
knowledge. In addition, due to the imbalance of demographic data in our sample studies,
we did not use control variables to identify patterns among workforce with different
background. Furthermore, future research on the differences between pre-1980s and post-
1980s/1990s generations could provide more useful implications for management to
develop adequate participation mechanisms and management systems.

Conclusions
We initially asked if there was a possible influence of employee participation mechanisms
on new generation employees’ work satisfaction in the Chinese manufacturing industry.
We then explored two hypotheses through investigating the relevant phenomenon in depth
by carrying out empirical research in car-manufacturing enterprises in a number of cities
in China.
Our results, which we believe are most relevant to expanding theoretical knowledge in
the field, suggest that the new generation of employee participation in management,
specifically focusing on monitoring and in helping to shape decision-making in Chinese
enterprises, all appear to have a significantly positive impact on their satisfaction at work.
One major insight, we would argue, is that employee participation intention plays a
positive moderating role between actual participation on decision-making on the one hand,
and satisfaction on the other.
The practical upshot is that these findings suggest that enterprises should focus on
improving the existing or implementing new employee involvement systems, particularly
encouraging higher levels of involvement in management, supervision and decision-
making, and to encourage new generation employees to develop a willingness to become
involved in these activities.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

References
Arnstein, S. R. (1969). A ladder of citizen participation. Journal of the American Institute of
Planners, 35, 216– 224.
Barboza, D. (2010, June 13). In China, unlikely labor leader just wanted middle-class life. The New
York Times. Retrieved May 25, 2011 from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/business/
global/14honda.html?_r¼1&scp¼1&sq¼unlikely%20labor%20leaders%20china&st¼cse
BBC News. (2014). China’s Yue Yuen shoe factory workers in large strike. BBC News Website.
Retrieved September 8, 2014 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-27033186
Benson, G. S., Young, S. M., & Lawler, E. E. (2006). Higher-involvement work practices and
analysts’ forecasts of corporate earnings. Human Resource Management, 45, 519– 537.
Blumberg, P. (1968). Industrial democracy: The sociology of participation. London: Constable.
2408 Y. Zhu et al.

Brewster, C., Croucher, R., Wood, G., & Brookes, M. (2007). Collective and individual voice:
Convergence in Europe? The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 18,
1246– 1262.
Cai, H. (2004). zhigong canyu guanli yu wuoguo gongsifa de wangshan [Employee participation and
the improvement of company law in China]. Qiushi, 11, 209– 210.
Chan, A. (2011). Walmart in China. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Chan, C. K. (2012). The challenge of labour in China: Strikes and the changing labour regime in
global factories. London: Routledge.
Chang, K. (2005). laodong guanxixei [Labour relations]. Beijing: China Labour and Social Insurance
Press.
Cheng, Y. Y. (2006). dui qiyei minzhu guanli lifa de jidian shikao [Several thoughts of enterprise
democratic management legislation]. Beijing Trade Unions Cadres College Journal, 9, 14 – 16.
CLB. (2013, October 4). Large-scale strikes a feature of recent worker protest in China. China
Labour Bulletin. Retrieved September 8, 2014 from http://www.clb.org.hk/en/content/large-
scale-strikes-feature-recent-worker-protest-china
Cohen, S. G., & Ledford, G. W. (1991). The effectiveness of self-managing teams: A quasi
experiment. Los Angeles, CA: Center for Effective Organizations.
Cotton, J. L. (1993). Employee involvement: Methods for improving performance and work attitudes.
London: Sage.
Cox, A., Zagelmeyer, S., & Marchington, M. (2006). Embedding employee involvement and
participation at work. Human Resource Management Journal, 3, 250– 267.
Crane, T. (1998). Intentionality as the mark of the mental. In A. O’Hear (Ed.), Contemporary issues
in the philosophy of mind (pp. 229– 251). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Dahrendorf, R. (1959). Class and class conflict in industrial society. Stanford, CA: Stanford
University Press.
Dolgoff, S. (1974). The anarchist collectives: Workers’ self-management in the Spanish revolution.
Montreal: Black Rose Books.
Dowling, P. J., Festing, M., & Engle, A. D. (2013). International human resource management
(6th ed.). London: Cengage Learning.
Feng, T. Q. (2002). zhongguo gongren de mingyun – gaige yilai gongren de shehui xingdong [The
destiny of Chinese workers – Workers’ social activities since reform]. Beijing: Social Science
Literature Press.
Fieds, D. L. (2004). Assessment of work: Organizational diagnosis and research inventories.
Beijing: China Light Industry Press.
Goodall, K., & Warner, M. (1997). Human resources in sino-foreign joint ventures: Selected case
studies in Shanghai, compared with Beijing. The International Journal of Human Resource
Management, 8, 569– 594.
Hammer, T. H. (1998). Industrial Democracy. In M. Poole & M. Warner (Eds.), The IEBM handbook
of human resource management (pp. 143–152). London: International Thomson Business Press.
Heller, F., Pusic, E., Strauss, G., & Wilpert, B. (1998). Organisational participation: Myth and
reality. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Huang, Q., & Gamble, J. (2011). Informal institutional constraints, employee participation and
employee satisfaction: Evidence from the Chinese retail sector. The International Journal of
Human Resource Management, 22, 3168– 3186.
Hutchins, D. C. (1999). Just in time. Farnham: Gower.
Hyman, J., & Mason, B. (1995). Managing employee involvement and participation. London: Sage.
International Research Group (IDE). (1980). Industrial democracy in Europe. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
IDE. (1981). European industrial relations. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Jiang, X. (2013). The new generation of migrant workers in labour market in China. In E. Pries (Ed.),
Shifting boundaries of belonging and new migration dynamics in Europe and China
(pp. 164– 185). London: Palgrave.
Karatepe, O. M., & Olugbade, O. A. (2009). The effects of job and personal resources on hotel
employees’ work engagement. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 28, 504–512.
Kaufman, B. (2014). The historical development of American HRM broadly viewed. Human
Resource Management Review, 24, 131– 143.
Kelso, L. O., & Kelso, P. H. (1986). Democracy and economic power: Extending ESOP revolution
through binary economics. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.
 The International Journal of Human Resource Management 2409

Li, B., Nahm, A., Wyland, R., Ke, J. K., & Yan, W. (2014). Reassessing the role of Chinese workers in
problem solving: A study of transformational leadership, trust and security in ‘lean’
manufacturing. Asia Pacific Business Review. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13602381.2014.950056.
Li, Q. S. (1989). zhigong canyu yixiang de diaocha fenxi [The survey analysis of employee
participation intention]. Sociology Research, 6, 65 – 70.
Liu, J. (2006). wuoguo qiye yuangong canyu guanli zhidu jianshe yanjiu [The research on
establishing employee participation in management systems in China]. Tianjin: Nankai
University.
Liu, L. Q. (2002). jieshou qunzhong qiandu cujin zhegong canyu renzhen zuohao shewu gongkai
[Accepting people’s supervision and improving employee participation for better transparent
management systems]. China Public Health Management, 3, 19 – 21.
Locke, E. A., & Schweiger, D. (1979). Participation in decision-making: One more look.
In B. M. Staw (Ed.), Research in organizational behaviour (pp. 265– 339). Greenwich: JAI
Press.
Looise, J. K., Torka, N., & Wigboldus, J. E. (2011). Understanding worker participation and
organizational performance at the firm level: In search for an integrated model. Advances in
Industrial and Labor Relations, 18, 87 – 113.
Marchington, M., & Kynighou, A. (2012). The dynamics of employee involvement and participation
during turbulent times. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 23,
3336– 3354.
Marchington, M., & Wilkinson, A. (2005). Human resource management at work: People
management and development (3rd ed.). London: Chartered Institute of Personnel &
Development.
Miller, K. I., & Monge, P. R. (1986). Participation, satisfaction and productivity: A meta analytic
review. Academy of Management Journal, 29, 727– 753.
Millward, N. (2001). Research note: The representativeness of WERS 98: A clarification. Industrial
Relations Journal, 32, 344– 346.
Muller-Jentsch, W. (2008). Industrial democracy: Historical development and current challenges.
Management Revue, 19, 260– 273.
Ng, S. H., & Warner, M. (1998). China’s trade unions and management. Basingstoke: Macmillan.
Parnell, J. A., Bell, E. D., & Taylor, R. (1992). The propensity for participative management:
A conceptual and empirical analysis. Mid-Atlantic Journal of Business, 28, 31 – 42.
Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2012). Sources of method bias in social
science research and recommendations on how to control it. Annual Review of Psychology, 63,
539– 569.
Poole, M. (1986). Towards a new industrial democracy: Workers’ participation in industry. London:
Routledge and Kegan.
Poole, M. (1992). Industrial democracy. In G. Szell (Ed.), Concise encyclopaedia of participation
and management (pp. 429– 439). New York, NY: de Gruyter.
Poole, M., & Warner, M. (Eds.). (1998). The IEBM handbook of human resource management.
London: International Thomson Business Press.
Pringle, T. (2011). Trade unions in China: The challenge of labour unrest. London: Routledge.
Ren, C., Zhao, L., & Wei, T. (2009). baling huo xinyuangong gongzuo tezheng duiqi lizhi qingxiang
de yingxiang [The work characteristics of post-80s’ employees and the impact on their intention
to quit]. Value Engineering, 28, 39 – 141.
Ren, S., Zhu, Y., & Warner, M. (2011). Human resources, higher education reform and employment
opportunities for university graduates in the People’s Republic of China. The International
Journal of Human Resource Management, 22, 3429– 3446.
Schmitt, A., Zacher, H., & de Lange, A. H. (2013). Focus on opportunities as a boundary condition of
the relationship between job control and work engagement: A multi-sample, multi-method
study. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 22, 505– 519.
Schurmann, F. (1968). Ideology and organization in communist China. Berkeley, CA: University of
California.
Skip, B. (1991, April). Ideas that pay off using employee suggestions to save money. Nation’s
Business (pp. 34 – 35).
Su, D. S. (2007). guanli xinlixei [Management psychology]. Shanghai: Fudan University Press.
Sun, Y. Q., & He, L. S. (2006). The function mechanism of employee participation in management
and the influential factors. Science, Technology and Management, 2, 139– 142.
2410 Y. Zhu et al.

Taylor, R. (2011). China’s labour legislation: Implications for competitiveness. Asia Pacific
Business Review, 17, 493–510.
Tesluck, P. E., Vance, R. J., & Mathieu, J. E. (1999). Examining employee involvement in the
context of participative work environments. Group and Organization Management, 24,
271– 299.
Wagner, I. (1994). Participation’s effects on performance and satisfaction: A reconsideration of
research evidence. Academy of Management Review, 19, 312– 330.
Wagner, J. A., Leana, C. R., Locke, E. A., & Schweiger, D. M. (1997). Cognitive and motivational
frameworks in U.S. research on participation: A meta analysis of primary effects. Journal of
Organizational Behavior, 18, 49 – 65.
Wall, T. D., & Lischeron, J. A. (1977). Worker participation: A critique of the literature and some
fresh evidence. London: McGraw-Hill.
Wang, G. W. (1994). laodong gufenzhi: gufenzhi he canyuzhi de jiehe [Labour stock ownership
option: Combination of stock option and participation systems]. China-Foreign Management, 8,
14.
Wang, H., Pan, L., & Heerink, N. (2013). Working conditions and job satisfaction of China’s new
generation of migrant workers: Evidence from an inland city. (Discussion Paper, IZA DP No.
7405). Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit Institute for the Study of Labor, Bonn,
Germany.
Wang, Y. T., Du, P. C., & Wang, C. C. (2011). xinmeiti shidai yuangong canyu de youxiaoxing
yanjiu [The research on new media era’s employee participation effectiveness]. China Human
Resource Development, 9, 21 – 24.
Wanous, J. P., Reichers, A. E., & Austin, J. T. (2000). Cynicism about organizational change. Group
and Organization Management, 25, 132– 153.
Warner, M. (1984). Organizations and experiments: Designing new ways of managing work.
Chichester: Wiley.
Warner, M. (Ed.). (2008). Human resource management ‘with Chinese characteristics’. London:
Routledge.
Warner, M. (Ed.). (2011). Confucian HRM in greater China: Theory and practice. London:
Routledge.
Warner, M. (Ed.). (2012). Society and HRM in China. London: Routledge.
Warner, M. (2014). Understanding management in China: Past, present and future. London:
Routledge.
Warner, M., & Goodall, K. (Eds.). (2009). Management training and development in China:
Educating managers in a globalized economy. London: Routledge.
Warner, M., & Zhu, Y. (2010). Labour and management in the People’s Republic of China: Seeking
the ‘harmonious society’. Asia Pacific Business Review, 16, 285– 298.
Webb, S., & Webb, B. (1911). Industrial democracy. London: Longmans.
Wheen, F. (2001). Karl Marx: A life. New York, NY: Norton.
Wilkinson, A. (1998). Empowerment: Theory and practice. Personnel Review, 27, 40 – 56.
Wilkinson, A., & Fay, C. (2011). New times for employee voice? Human Resource Management, 50,
65 – 74.
Wilkinson, A., Gollan, P. J., Marchington, M., & Lewin, D. (Eds.). (2010). The Oxford handbook of
participation in organizations. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Williams, L. J., Cote, J. A., & Buckley, M. R. (1989). Lack of method variance in self-reported affect
and perceptions at work: Reality or artifact. Journal of Applied Psychology, 7, 462– 468.
Windolf, P. (1993). Co-determination and the market for corporate control in the European
community. Economy and Society, 22, 137–158.
Xie, Y. H. (2009). zhongguo gongye mingzhu he yuangong canyu zhidu ji gongneng [China’s
industrial democracy and employee participation systems and functions]. Economic and Social
Systems Comparison, 1, 129– 135.
Yu, J. (2012). New rules on democratic organization in Chinese enterprises. Retrieved September 8,
2012 from http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g¼ce03c06e-b8f1-4396-9040-
b47335ae3e82
Yu, Y. Q. (2009). baling hou qingnian qunti tezheng de jiedu [Understanding the characteristics of
post-80s’ generation]. Shangdong Youth Management Caders College Journal, 5, 17 – 20.
 The International Journal of Human Resource Management 2411

Zatzick, C. D., & Iverson, R. D. (2011). Putting employee involvement in context: A cross-level
model examining satisfaction and absenteeism in high-involvement work systems. The
International Journal of Human Resource Management, 17, 3462– 3476.
Zheng, C., Morrison, M., & O’Neill, G. (2006). An empirical study of high performance HRM
practices in Chinese SMEs. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 17,
1772– 1803.
Zhou, Q. (2007). The new generation management changes because of you. China Human Resource
Development, 2, 26 – 29.
Zhou, Z. H., & Liu, P. (2010). qiye yuangong canyu guanli xuyao tezheng ji guanli duicer yanjiu
[The research on the characteristics of the needs of employee participation in management and
relevant management policy]. Commercial Times, 21, 105– 106.
Zhu, C. J., Thomson, B. S., & De Cieri, H. (2008). A retrospective and prospective analysis of HRM
research in Chinese firms: Implications and directions for future study. Human Resource
Management, 47, 133– 156.
Zhu, Y., Warner, M., & Feng, T. Q. (2011). Employment relations with ‘Chinese characteristics’:
The role of trade unions in China. International Labour Review, 150, 127– 143.