Employee Empowerment: Literature Review

1265 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The importance of employee empowerment

In the literature there are two main views of empowerment (Lakew, 2011). The first is proposed by Robbins (2005), who defines the concept of empowerment as a ‘participative management, delegation and the granting of power to lower level employees to make and enforce decisions’. This definition is consistent with a structural or relational view. Another definition that considers the relational view of employee empowerment is provided by Brymar (1991) as ‘a process of decentralizing decision-making in an organisation, whereby managers give more discretion and autonomy to the front line employees’.

Ghosh (2013, p.95) defines empowerment as ‘the process of shifting authority and responsibility to employees at a lower level in the organisational hierarchy’, and Armache (2013, p.19) further elaborates by describing it as ‘a strategy and philosophy that enables employees to make decisions about their job’.

Thomas and Velthouse (1990) propose a second perspective on empowerment, defining empowerment in terms of a cognitive motivational concept or psychological empowerment. The following definitions are consistent with the psychological concept, for example Carlzon (1987) perceives empowerment as a motivational construct. He asserts that, ‘in an employment context, empowerment fulfils the role of freeing someone from rigorous control by instructions, policies, and orders, and giving that person freedom to take responsibility for his/her ideas, decisions and actions’.

Meanwhile, Conger and Kanungo (1988) view empowerment as a motivational construct and describe it as enabling rather than as a process of delegation. Melhem (2004, p.73) emphasises that empowerment releases hidden resources that would otherwise remain inaccessible to bot...

... middle of paper ...

...licy. British Journal of Management, 9(4), pp.341-353.

Timothy, A.T. and AbuBakar, H.S., 2013. Impact of employee empowerment on service quality - an empirical analysis of the Nigerian Banking Industry. British Journal of Marketing Studies, 1(4), pp.32-40

Yeasmin, S. and Rahman, K.F., 2012. Triangulation research method as the tool of social science research. BUP Journal, 1(1), pp.154-160.

Zaidi, F. and Anwar, S., 2011. Employee Empowerment And Its Impact On The Service Quality: A Study from both Employee and Customer Perspective. VDM Verlad, Taschenbuch.

Zeithaml, V.A., Parasuraman, A. and Berry, L.L., 1985. Problems and strategies in services marketing. Journal of Marketing, 49(2), pp.33-46.

Zeithaml, V.A. Berry, L.L and Parasuraman, A. 1988. Communications and Control Processes in the Delivery of Service Quality, Journal of Marketing, 52, April, pp. 35-48.

Show More
Related

  • Empowerment Theory Within the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative

    1755 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...ctive we are able to understand analyze previous achievements and forward progress within the community. According to Kirsten-Ashmen, “ empowerment is defined as the process of increasing personal, interpersonal, or political power so that individuals can take action to improve their to improve their life situation (p.81)”. Within the empowerment theory there is a focus on conscious raising, social justice, mutual aid , power, socialization, and group cohesion. The DSNI strives to achieve all of these sub-ideas within the theory.

    Read More

  • Herbert Marcuse: The Theory Of Empowerment Theory

    809 Words  | 2 Pages

    The theory of empowerment is the way the status quo can successfully be transformed. According to this theory societies wanting to change the status quo will experience three different steps. The first step in the process is forming a normative goal; this is simply what you want to change to. The normative goal is what the goal of politics should be. Those who wish to change the status quo should have a normative goal know what they are seeking from the new system. The second step needed in the process is creating a method of action; this is the process which needs to take place in order to change status quo. This is necessary ensure people are able and willing to take action necessary; they must believe the goal and method is possible before

    Read More

  • Gender Discrimination in the Workplace

    1829 Words  | 4 Pages

    empowerment, and dynamic acts over the past century. Nevertheless, there is still a long way

    Read More

  • Lowe's Weaknesses

    1658 Words  | 4 Pages

    Companies say they empower their employees and communities to do more or be better. What does that truly mean? According to The World Bank (2015), “Empowerment is the process of increasing the capacity of individuals or groups to make choices and to transform those choices into desired actions and outcomes” (para 1). Lowe’s introduced a program in 2014 to develop its women leaders, pairing vice presidents with women store managers to develop and expand Lowe’s leadership team. In 2015, the company will leverage the program with a new group of store managers and launch a new mentoring program to pair women and minority store managers with market directors

    Read More

  • Personal Development as a Critical Practitioner

    2278 Words  | 5 Pages

    Smale, G. and Tuson, G. (1993) Empowerment Assessment: Care management and the skilled worker, London, NISW.

    Read More

  • Reminiscing with Grandmother: A Drive through Memory Lane

    2035 Words  | 5 Pages

    The concepts of empowerment theory are to instill power and control. Within this concept is also the concept that disadvantaged persons are threatened by others with more power in their lives. As part of the empowerment theory, gaining personal power helps to gain personal responsibility for change. This personal responsibility for change can transform emotional apathy and despair to positive social action (Van Wormer, 2011, p. 44). One of the main strengths of the empowerment theory is that the approach focuses on an individual’s strengths and builds them into making the desired changes in their own lives. A common limitations of the empowerment theory is when social workers work within a given system, rather than change the system when needed (Van Wormer, 2011, p.

    Read More

  • How Nurses can Provide Empowerment

    767 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...s by being role models of self-empowerment.” (Burkhardt & Nathaniel, 2014, p. 520) There are many constraints and issues which can affect the empowerment process. As nurses, we must address the “social, political, and environmental factors affecting empowerment” in order to provide the highest quality of nursing care. It is important to remember that “empowerment is an essential part of nursing care.” (Burkhardt & Nathaniel, 2014, p. 521)

    Read More

  • What Are The American Express Leadership Theories

    1093 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...second prevalent motivational strategy present in American Express is empowerment. Empowerment is the process of enabling workers to set their own work goals, make decisions, and solve problems within their sphere of responsibility and authority (Griffin, 461). After many years of running a disputed work atmosphere, managers at American Express realized that allowing employees to talk with customers on a more open and personal level, rather than being constantly supervised, made for a much more fruitful outcome.

    Read More

  • If Disney Ran Your Hospital

    2487 Words  | 5 Pages

    Zeithaml, Valarie A, Berry, Leonard L, & Parasuraman, A. (1996). The behavioral consequences of service quality. Journal of Marketing, 60(2), 31. Retrieved April 1, 2011, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 9401886).

    Read More

  • Theories Of Social Work Empowerment Theory

    1098 Words  | 3 Pages

    In social work there are many theories that are very beneficial. I think that empowerment theories are something you must know about. First, I will list some reasons why these theories are special. Then, we will explore the history of it. Thirdly, the key concepts will give us an open insight on what we are really talking about. Fourthly, we will focus on the term critical consciousness. Next is defining the empowerment concepts in a social context. Finally there will be information on the social work empowerment theories more in depth.

    Read More

  • Importance Of Power In Nursing

    812 Words  | 2 Pages

    Empowerment is the feeling of control, the ability to make our own decisions, the confidence to achieve autonomy and well-being.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Empowerment In Social Work

    665 Words  | 2 Pages

    When advocating on behalf of a population experiencing a social problem, empowerment seems to be more prevalent than one may think, although this remains a difficult skill to master. Empowerment is the process of enabling an oppressed or marginalized population to think, behave, and take action in autonomous ways. The purpose of empowerment is to assist an oppressed and/or marginalized group in overcoming feelings of powerlessness and negative valuations so they can resolve their problems and influence political change (Hardina, 2003). In social work, the goal of empowerment is to increase the power of the oppressed population or community (Hardina, 2003).

    Read More

  • Employee Empowerment

    1549 Words  | 4 Pages

    Empowerment is a simple idea, but often misunderstood or misused by many. "It means granting latitude of action for how the work is done to those who do the work.” (R.E Sibson, Strategic Planning for Human Resources Management). This paper will define, describe and discuss Employee Empowerment used in today’s team based organizations. The paper looks at how this concept affects the company's diverse workforce. I will discuss the potential impact of these practices and the performance.

    Read More

  • What´s Post Bureaucracy?

    839 Words  | 2 Pages

    Empowerment is another feature of post bureaucracy. It represents organizations awarding power and authority to those lower in the organizational hierarchy (Knights & Willmott, 2007). To some extent empowerment could be beneficial to a organization because empowerment would allow the workers to work...

    Read More

  • Essay On Psychological Empowerment

    2294 Words  | 5 Pages

    So psychological empowerment measures the extent to which employees perceive they are allowed to use their own initiative and judgment in performing their jobs (Hartline and Ferrell, 1996). In sum, psychological empowerment reflects an active orientation to work, and pass on the notion that individuals not only want to, but are able to, shape their work role and context. Psychological empowerment is a process because it begins with the interaction of one’s personality characteristics within the work environment; then the interaction of environment with personality shapes the empowerment cognitions, which in turn motivate individual behavior (Spreitzer, 1995). Each dimension of psychological empowerment dimensions will be discussed with coming

    Read More

More about Employee Empowerment: Literature Review

Open Document