Empowerment in total quality: designing and implementing effective employee decision-making strategies

Citation

Urquhart, J. (2002), "Empowerment in total quality: designing and implementing effective employee decision-making strategies", Measuring Business Excellence, Vol. 6 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/mbe.2002.26706baf.005

Empowerment in total quality: designing and implementing effective employee decision-making strategies

Empowerment in total quality: designing and implementing effective employee decision-making strategies

Z.S. Dimitriades, Quality Management Journal, Vol. 8 No. 2, 2001

Traces the development of employee empowerment theory and practice, differentiates between delegation, job enrichment, employee involvement and empowerment. Discusses participatory empowerment and self-management, describes how to select an appropriate empowerment strategy based on individuals' characteristics, workforce demographics, and organizational and context factors. Comments that older, well-educated, high-skilled and experienced people are considered more able to assume empowerment responsibilities. Covers contextual factors such as national culture, industrial relations and the business environment, and looks at organizational factors of business strategy, product technology, leadership, organizational culture and firm size. Concludes by stating that empowerment is a philosophy not a technique.

Comment: This article provides a brief evaluation of the empowerment concept in a clear, concise manner. A perfect introduction to the empowerment hypothesis.