The application of an empowerment model

✍ Scribed by Eric Molleman; Bas van Delft; Jannes Slomp

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2001
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 104 KB
• Volume: 11
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1090-8471
• DOI: 10.1002/hfm.1018

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

In this study we applied an empowerment model that focuses on (a) the need for empowerment in light of organizational strategy, (b) job design issues such as job enlargement and job enrichment that facilitate empowerment, and (c) the abilities, and (d) the attitudes of workers that make empowerment work. We applied the model in the manufacturing department of a firm that produces catheters for medical use and interviewed managers and supporting staff and surveyed 231 operators. The leading performance indicators in this firm are efficiency and quality. The reassignment of 12 out of 33 tasks was believed to contribute to these organizational objectives. For most workers, their abilities and their attitudes toward empowerment proved to be no major barrier to the reallocation of these tasks. However, for temporary workers, mainly working in a “short shift,” the leeway to learn skills is limited, which probably impedes empowerment. The study shows that our model helps to diagnose the need for empowerment, to design work structures that facilitate empowerment, and to select appropriate human resource management practices. Further validation in other organizational settings is desirable. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.