The Limits of Empowerment

Abstract

Reports on the early stage of a research project being undertaken at Nottingham Business School. Suggests that claims made for the benefits of employee empowerment need to be viewed with caution: there are clearly different meanings to empowerment and a variety of different forms in different organizations. Suggests that a framework of analysis is needed so as to identify the precise nature of the form of empowerment being initiated. Provides a five‐dimensional model. Each dimension is based on a dichotomous continuum which compares the empowered hospitality organization with the traditional “Production‐line” organization. The dimensions given are the task dimension, the task allocation dimension, the power dimension, the commitment dimension and the cultural dimension.