indirect voice, this chapter focuses primarily on direct voice for several reasons.
First, union and non-union collective voice has been analyzed at length in many
other publications (for example, Osterman et al. 2001 ; Gospel and Wood 2003 ), and
it was felt impossible to develop this material without a proper analysis of diVerent
national legal systems or cultures. Second, the decline in union density in most
developed countries has meant that direct forms of voice—both through upward
problem-solving and through new forms of work organization—are likely to oVer
workers greater opportunities for inXuence than they did in the past. Indeed there
is evidence that direct forms of voice are associated, by workers, with more positive
perceptions of managerial responsiveness than either union or non-union forms of
indirect representation (Bryson 2004 ). Third, as direct voice mechanisms impact
more immediately on workers than indirect representation, they are seen as
more relevant to worker needs (Freeman and Rogers 1999 ; Osterman et al. 2001 ).
Changes at work group level can make a major diVerence to people’s daily lives,
and direct, personal involvement can seem more meaningful than higher-level
discussions about long-term plans (Purcell and Georgiadis 2006 ). Of course, it is
recognized that direct voice may oVer opportunities for change only at the margins
of managerial decision-making (Ramsay et al. 2000 ) because key strategic
choices are made way beyond the conWnes of the participative process (Strauss
1998 ). Finally, concentrating on direct voice allows a sharper focus on theprocesses
accompanying informal participation at the workplace, and it is acknowledged
that few surveys have captured workers’ views. If we are to understand better
how HRM impacts on workers, the so-called ‘black box’ needs to be opened up
in order to discern how workers interpret managerial practices (Wright and
Boswell 2002 ; Benson and Lawler 2003 ). This is especially important when examin-
ing the interaction eVects of a number of diVerent voice mechanisms, both direct
and indirect, and the extent to which they are embedded within the workplace
(Marchington 2005 ).
The focus on direct voice should not be interpreted as a sign that indirect and
union voice is unimportant for the achievement of worker inXuence in organiza-
tions; far from it. Evidence from Purcell and Georgiadis ( 2006 ) indicates that
combinations of direct and indirect voice have the strongest relationship with
worker commitment, satisfaction, and discretion. In a later section of this chapter
we return to the question of how indirect voice systems can shape the development
of direct voice, particularly in societies where strong institutional pressures or
inXuential trade unions create frameworks at national and organizational levels
within which voice canXourish.
Three broad versions of direct voice are considered in this chapter. These are
task-based participation, such as redesigned work operations, teamworking, and
self-managed teams;upward problem-solvingtechniques such as oV-line teams,
232 m i c k m a r c h i n g t o n