Over the last decade an era of political reforms has been sweeping through Indonesian society This has not just involved change at the level of how government is conducted but has seen a change in the whole social and political atmosphere One of the most significant changes is related to democratization of organizational behavior Many organizations are now trying to transform from the old custom of authoritarian organizational style to a way of working, which is more democratic and participative They are allowing their employees to contribute opinions and some are beginning to involve employees more in the process of making organizational decisions This article looks at two state-owned enterprises in Indonesia, to see what impact these trends actually have in the real life of both the organization and the employees It reports the positive findings of a relationship between employee participation in decision-making and their motivation1 INTRODUCTIONThere is a line of logic which supports the view that an organization will benefit from the collaboration between managers and employees Scholars have long argued that there is a close link between organizational effectiveness and individual effectiveness (Cotton, Vollrath et al, 1988) This implies that in order to achieve organizational goals, managers must treat their employees fairly In the hierarchy of needs, employee involvement in organizational decision-making finds an adequate place (Mitchell 1973; Vroom 1974) It might be expected that being involved in decision-making will be challenging for many employees and that at the same time it might increase their motivation (Ladd M Zainnudin & Isa, 2011), commitment of the employee as well as their motivation (Batthi & Qureshi, 2007)Recent studies in Indonesia have found that many organizations do not assign a high priority to gaining and using their individual employee's commitment as part of a strategy to increase their effectiveness and therefore their competitiveness (Yuliani, Prihanto et al, 2003) Furthermore, it has been found that although some organizations have implemented participatory programs, employee's commitment in gaining full involvement decreases as the organization structure is built This commonly happens in Indonesian stateowned enterprises (SOEs) which traditionally have a highly structured bureaucracy Other studies have found that managers in Indonesia are likely to view any policy to introduce a better corporate governance climate for workers in their organizations as a personal setback for them, and therefore are likely to find ways to ensure that the policy does not carried out/enforced This accords with the generally held view by those in positions of leadership in Indonesia that workers as individuals are morally obliged to follow the rules of bureaucracy and that they need them to give them proper guidance (Moeljono, 2003) Where managers hold these views, they not only fail to look at the broader picture that involving workers in the decision-making process of a company will improve those processes but they also miss an opportunity to increase workers' motivation to workAlthough this might be acceptable in a culture emphasizing individualism, it does not apply to the more collectivist cultural environment of Indonesia (Irawanto, 2007) The overall picture of Indonesian culture, following Hofstede's classification, is that is a culture of a high power distance, high ambiguity avoidance and a very feminist culture, which leads to dependency on the system/structure of the organization (Hofstede, 2007) Recent studies have also found that the collectivist dimensions of Indonesians working in the public service is rather high rather, as compared to their counterparts in the private sector (Irawanto et al …

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Employee Participation in Decision-Making: Evidence from a State-Owned Enterprise in Indonesia

Explores the evolution of career management systems for industrial researchers. Based on case studies of experimental career development systems for industrial researchers, combined with a survey of 151 researchers and engineers employed at a large public research institution, alternative approaches toward managing professional careers are discussed. The results indicate that the researchers’ personal career orientations, as measured by Schein’s Career Anchors Inventory, may serve as a useful predictor of their career preferences. In addition, the research enables an evaluation of alternative modes of career development for industrial R&D to be developed.

Strategic career development for R&D staff: a field research

To enjoy modern information technology applications for development, such as e-medicine, tele-edcuation, e-government, and e-commerce, the engineering management and information systems literature have vastly argued that there exist technological and nontechnological precursors to successful diffusion of such applications. Factors such as training local expertise and open competition that could be taken for granted in developed nations cannot just be ignored in the case of developing economies. The main measure of a nation's telecommunications infrastructure is teledensity-the number of main telecommunications landlines per 100 people. Africa's Least Developed Economies (LDEs), home to 33 of the 48 LDEs of the world, continue to suffer from poor telecommunications infrastructure. For most countries within this region, less than one telephone line is shared among 100 inhabitants, a serious hindrance in building other basic infrastructure such as the Internet and related technologies. For example, Congo and Eritrea still have less than 0.5 line per 100 people. This study examines the perceptions of Africa's technology stakeholders to solve the poor telecommunications infrastructure problems that hinder diffusion of relevant applications within the region. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected and reported in this study. Findings reveal six pertinent factors (strategies) that would impact teledensity growth in Africa's LDEs. 1) Promote domestic and foreign investment in information and communications technologies. 2) Develop wireless and satellite infrastructure as a compliment (and not a replacement) to landlines. 3) Strive to be self-sufficient. 4) Enact governmental regulatory policies. 5) Build local capacity. 6) Privatize the telecommunications sector.

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An Exploratory Study of Strategies to Improve Africa's Least Developed Economies; Telecommunications Infrastructure: The Stakeholders Speak

In many countries, the aerospace industry is strongly regarded as a source of technology renewal and economic development. Over the last few decades, Indonesia, a developing country with a mainly agricultural economy, has been investing heavily in the aircraft manufacturing industry. The establishment of IPTN has been the largest and most ambitious investment by the Indonesian government to promote technology development in the country. Despite huge investments in engineering and production facilities and various technology achievements to its credit, the company has had limited commercial success. The paper deals with the establishment and different development phases of IPTN/IAe, and investigates why the company has had difficulties in succeeding in a long-term perspective.

Indonesia's aircraft industry: technology and management impediments

/pdf/globalization-and-identity-formation-a-postcolonial-analysis-41j6ldxndo.pdf

Globalization and identity formation: A postcolonial analysis of the international entrepreneur

The purpose of this case study was to identify the level of employee motivation at an Indonesian high-tech state-owned company. Comparisons were drawn between labor and management as well as Indonesian and Western industrial environments. The overall results provide insight into employee motivation and the potential for productivity improvement that should prove beneficial to management at state-owned and privately owned companies in Indonesia and the Pacific Rim. The study can also help Westerners appreciate culture differences and productivity challenges in this developing country.

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A.A. Soedarsono

Papers

Productivity improvement at a high-tech state-owned industry-an Indonesian case study of employee motivation