ain-of-command approach, was no longer effective. The concept of empowerment, like corporate America, has itself evolved since that time. Originally, the concept of empowerment was defined simply as “giving power to people who are at a disadvantaged spot in the organization” (Kanter, 1977, ix).
However, in the twenty years since the above definition was formulated, the definition of empowerment has evolved. Vogt (1997, 2) defines empowerment as “the act of giving people the opportunity to make workplace decisions by expanding their autonomy in decision making.” Basically the concept of empowerment has come to encompass managers delegating decision-making authority and responsibility to workers who possess the knowledge and skills to enable them to make decisions more efficiently than management. Experts argue that to be successful, empowerment must be welcomed and accepted by those who become empowered and not something imposed on them.
Geroy, Wright, and Anderson (1998) have added an extra dimension to their definition of empowerment which encompasses three other employee concepts. They define the concept of empowerment as “the process of providing employees with the necessary guidance and skills to enable autonomous decision making , and proposed a strategic performance empowerment model combining three key variables of coaching, modeling and career path development” (Geroy, Wright, and Anderson, 1998, 58). Despite any or all of the above definitions of empowerment, one of the biggest problems with effectively empowering groups of employees has been a lack of willingness on behalf of management to do it. Despite their lip-service paid to achieving empowered employees, many managers still have difficulty doing it. Many argue that empowerment if a smokescreen term, a concept that is used manipulatively by employers to delegate more responsibility to employees without giving them an appropriate measure of...