Conclusions: models of diversity and interaction

This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book suggests that greater employee commitment is generated by participation and involvement of employees. It highlights the fact that the style of workplace culture also dictates the way in which employees are involved in decision-making. The book shows how debilitating the lack of a supportive culture can be even when participative structures are established in the chapters on Malta and Ghana by Zammitt and Musa respectively. The distinction of strategic human resource management (HRM) from the industrial relations paradigm relied to a large extent upon a restrictive caricature of industrial relations as a typology. The Norwegian case study in this book offers a model, with collaboration between employers, employee representatives and researchers in the development of participative practices which simultaneously enhance productivity and empower employees.