Investigating the Effect of Participative Management on Employee Participation: The Mediating Role of Employee Empowerment (A Case Study of Bank Melli Iran)

Abstract

he present study aimed to investigate the effect of participative management on employee participation, with the mediating role of employee empowerment, in Bank Melli Iran. To this end, structural equation modeling was employed to examine the effect of participative management on employee participation and the mediating role of employee empowerment. The statistical population consisted of all employees of Bank Melli Iran. Given the large and theoretically unlimited size of the population, a sample of 384 employees was determined using Cochran’s formula and selected through simple random sampling. Data were collected using a researcher-developed questionnaire. The validity of the questionnaire was assessed through content and face validity by experts using the Delphi technique, while construct validity was evaluated through confirmatory factor analysis using SmartPLS. The reliability of the instrument was confirmed using Cronbach’s alpha and composite reliability coefficients in SPSS. For data analysis, the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test was used to assess the normality of the data, and structural equation modeling was employed to analyze the hypothesized paths and validate the proposed model using SmartPLS. The results indicated that knowledge management, interaction and communication, and skills and expertise significantly influenced participative management, which, in turn, affected employee empowerment and subsequently employee participation. Furthermore, the mediating role of employee empowerment in the relationship between participative management and employee participation was confirmed.