EMPLOYEE EMPOWERMENT

Employee Empowerment

Abstract

In this study we try to explore the concept of employee empowerment in a holistic context. The main focus of the research is on employee empowerment and its relation with supermarket. The research also analyzes many aspects of employee empowerment and tries to gauge its effect on supermarket. Finally the research describes various factors which are responsible for employee empowerment and tries to describe the overall effect of employee empowerment on supermarket.

Acknowledgements

I would take this opportunity to thank my research supervisor, family and friends for their support and guidance without which this research would not have been possible.

Table of Contents

ABSTRACTII

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSIII

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

Background1

Objective of the study4

Aims of the study5

Research Questions5

Significance of the Study5

Rationale of the Study7

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW11

Management Strategy And Empowerment14

Power, Empowerment, And The Control Of Labour15

What Is Empowerment?23

Extent Of Empowerment26

Managerial Politics And Empowerment29

The nature of empowerment31

Reasons for empowering employees33

Costs of empowerment35

Degree and types of empowerment37

A Contingency Framework For Empowering Service Employees39

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY54

Research Design54

Sample54

Data Collection55

Data Analysis58

Limitations59

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS/FINDINGS60

CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION/RECOMMENDATIONS72

CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION83

Managerial implications of empowerment87

REFERENCES92

APPENDIX112

Questionnaire112

Employee Empowerment

Chapter 1: Introduction

Background

Empowerment reflects an active work orientation 'in which an individual wishes and feels able to shape his or her work role and context' (Spreitzer, 2005). These feelings of empowerment have been proposed and found to facilitate a worker's commitment to the organization (Kirkman & Rosen, 2009; Locke & Schweiger, 2009; Spreitzer, 2006).

Empowerment is a motivational process of feeling enabled (Corsun & Enz, 2009). More specifically, Thomas and Velthouse (2008) defined empowerment as increased task motivation manifested in four cognitions: meaning, competence, self-determination, and impact. Based on Spreitzer's (2005, 2006) construct definition, meaning reflects the degree to which an individual believes in and cares about work goals or purposes. Meaningfulness is judged in relation to an individual's own ideals or standards of need. Competence refers to self-efficacy specific to work and is rooted in an individual's belief in his or her knowledge and capability to perform task activities with skill and success (Thomas & Velthouse, 2008).

Feelings of competence are analogous to effort-performance expectancy, personal mastery, and agency beliefs (Bandura, 2007, 2006, 2009). Self-determination represents the degree to which an individual feels causal responsibility for work-related actions, in the sense of having choice in initiating and regulating actions (Deci, Connell, & Ryan, 2009; Spreitzer, 2005). Based on Ashforth (2009), Spreitzer (2005, 2006) describes impact as the experience of having an influence on strategic, administrative, or operating outcomes at work to make a difference.

It is difficult to ignore that the current interest in the idea of empowerment. As Wilkinson (1988) argues, empowerment is portrayed as the way in which organization can move from a static and rule bound past to a dynamic and flexible future. Looked at this way, empowerment can be seen as the most recent manifestation of the idea that employee involvement is the means by which an organization and its performance can be transformed. The main focus of this study will be on the modern culture of the Lidl supermarket.

The meaning of empowerment has been the subject of great debate and ...