Many managements have responded to the problem of decreasing control in the work situation by implementing participative schemes. Such schemes involve a change from the more traditional confrontation or pure conflict process of bargaining to an approach based on joint problem‐solving and the enhancement of common interest. In the terminology of Walton and McKersie, there is a move from ‘distributive’ to ‘integrative’ bargaining. This paper is concerned with the fact that, in many cases, the approach to participation has tended to ignore the pluralistic nature of organizations. Often, the problem of loss of control in organizations is seen in global terms and the considered solution is deemed to lie in some generalized form of participation.