Section FiveMotivation
Decentralized Decision Making
A study by Varma and colleagues provides evidence on the
performance effects of decentralized decision making. Their
study examined the impact of a number of high-performance
work practices and systems, including delegation of decision
making. The research was based on a survey of 39 large firms
(average of 18,000 employees) from several industries. The
researchers referred to delegation as a system, as opposed to
an individual practice, although they measured it with only one
item. (Delegation was one of several items used to measure
organizational culture.) Thus, while delegated decision making
or decentralization is probably more complex than simple
human resource practices such as structured interviews, it will
be considered as an individual practice in this discussion. In
addition, the study employed perceptual measures of financial
and operational performance.^51 (In a later discussion and in
Table 5-2, decentralized decision making appears as one of
several practices making up a commitment-oriented system.)