An investigation into E-participation

The purpose of this research paper is thus to investigate the current state of e-participation in a business context. This will be done through analyzing the types of applications that are observable in companies today, the situations where they are used as well as identifying the conditions that influence the implementation of the given applications. The paper will include a thorough literature review calling on both classic HRM as well as e-HRM literature to define a research framework that uses the “Harvard” model of HRM initially defined by Beer et al. (1984), but with a distinct focus on e-participation. Due to the lack of literature dealing with the topic, especially from a business perspective, the research is designed to favor both qualitative as well as quantitative research. Due to unforeseen complications, the intended research was stalled and thus effort was switched to further definitions of the research framework. The end result is a research framework that is supported by both literature as well as expert opinions that is ready for empirical testing of e-participation.