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The purpose of this paper is to understand the role of increasing employees’ level of continuous improvement (CI) empowerment, i.e. employees’ knowledge and understanding of CI, the possibility of open communication and support from the work environment regarding CI, in the implementation of CI over time.

Based on the theory of structural empowerment, the authors test the research question using evidence from a case study in a European financial services provider. Data are gathered with questionnaires on a team level and cover a period of 2.5 years including 780 participants.

The findings show that after conducting a CI programme in the case, there is a significant increase in employees’ CI empowerment over time, which has a positive but time-lagged relationship with the level of CI implementation.

Implications are that CI empowerment can be created sustainably and is an important factor in establishing CI in a company, but that it takes time until empowerment leads to changes in behaviour. However, it has to be considered that these implications are solely derived from empirical results from a single company.

Financial service providers should invest in establishing CI empowerment and consider a delay in realising measurable benefits in terms of the level of CI implementation.

This paper is the first empirical study to examine the relationship between employee CI empowerment and the implementation of CI from a longitudinal perspective.

Empowerment has been added to the long list of environmental hazards facing the organizationally endangered species known as “middle managers”. For the sake of balance and interest, the author asked middle managers for their views regarding empowerment. This article presents the views of middle managers along with those found in the literature. Definitions are set forth, pros and cons are covered, and dos and don’ts are delineated. The author closes with the following advice for those seeking to implement empowerment: organizations should set the unifying vision for empowerment at the top management level; organizations should train and develop their line employees prior to giving them full empowerment; and organizations should rely on middle managers to provide two‐way communication and coaching for line employees as they are trained for empowerment. The article concludes that organizations should view middle managers as “bridges” rather than “blockages” to the implementation of empowerment.

This paper presents initial findings of ongoing research that is developing a best practice framework for the implementation of empowerment within construction organisations. Data obtained from 53 construction and manufacturing organisations are analysed. Findings confirm 62 empowerment activities, specifically, their respective influence at four organisational levels (strategic, general, operational, and direct work), and the roles of operatives and management, in effectively performing them. It is shown that almost all levels of an organisation have a significant contribution to play in efficiently performing empowerment activities, whilst senior management (at strategic, general, and operational levels) has greatest influence. The investigation also demonstrates that necessary resources and a suitable environment are crucial for successful empowerment implementation.

This paper aimed to review globally the empowerment programs for the prevention and control of smoking behavior among youths, to examine the role of empowerment in health promotion, to explore the stages of health promotion through community empowerment strategies including planning, implementation and evaluation. Finally, this paper will develop a model of youth empowerment to prevent and control smoking behavior that reflects theory and experience drawn from the literature.

This review synthesized articles on community empowerment and health promotion, youth empowerment programs for tobacco prevention and control globally from books and electronic databases from the Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) library in the publication period 2000–2020. Relevant literature was selected and critically reviewed which reflected the role empowerment in health promotion, stage of community empowerment strategy as described by Laverack and youth empowerment concept in tobacco control as described by Holden.

Documents that specifically discuss empowerment programs for smoking prevention and control are still limited. The findings document that youth empowerment in tobacco control do not fully integrate the theory empowerment as described by Laverack and Holden. This paper provides information about the stages of youth empowerment, and a conceptual framework of youth empowerment for the prevention and control of smoking behavior. Youth empowerment is done through the direct involvement of youth in programs starting from program design, planning, implementation and evaluation. Indicators of the success of the empowerment process are reflected in the increase in the empowerment domain. Meanwhile, the output of empowerment can be seen from the individual- or group-level changes.

This paper proposes a model of youth empowerment for the prevention and control of smoking behavior among youths based on theory and experience in the field.

Among the many fashionable management terms, empowerment refers to a change strategy with the objective of improving both the individual’s and the organization’s ability to act. Reviews the various themes of empowerment with particular reference to articles published between 1994‐1996 in the journal Empowerment in Organizations. The main themes are: creating an empowerment culture; empowerment as a management strategy; training and development for empowered employees; empowered teams and implementation techniques and empowerment and organizational change in the hospitality industry.

The purpose of the paper is to uncover and synthesise the main factors that affects and determines the success or failure of empowerment initiatives from a macro and micro perspective.

A thorough review of scholarly articles and empirical evidence was conducted on the topic of empowerment in order to bring to light the correlation between the different factors affecting structural empowerment, psychological empowerment and the effect of leadership style.

It has been determined that a team based structure and a culture based on trust and open communication are the key factors affecting the successful implementation of empowerment. Furthermore, although, many positive points can be made for transformational leadership, transactional leadership cannot be discounted as the research shows that the right combination of incentives and rewards, coupled with a certain organisational culture can breed empowerment among certain types of employees.

Going forward in terms of research on the increasingly popular concept of empowerment, it is believed that a more fully integrated model should be developed. Although some models do incorporate analysis of various macro and micro variables a more comprehensive and encompassing model would prove useful. Such a model would allow for a far more in-depth understanding of empowerment and its defining factors and would provide an invaluable tool to organisations wishing to implement empowerment in the most optimal way.

In applying a combination of theories on empowerment, leadership and individuals as part of an organisation, the authors posit that empowerment initiatives are predisposed to either success or failure. In order for empowerment to permeate the corporate culture and prove successful, the predispositions of decentralised management and personal ambition are strong factors of success.

The authors postulate that the deciding factors regarding the success or failure of empowering an employee originate from the employees themselves. Even though employees can adopt new corporate cultures and be transformed by their leaders, their core traits remain the same and will have a decisive impact on the eventual success or failure of empowerment initiatives.

Going forward in terms of research on the increasingly popular concept of empowerment, it is believed that a more fully integrated model should be developed. Although some models do incorporate analysis of various macro and micro variables, a more comprehensive and encompassing model would prove useful.

The main objective of this study is to determine the impact of employee empowerment on job satisfaction. To serve this purpose, empowerment is taken into consideration as two dimensions – i.e. behavioral and psychological – and the effect of employee empowerment on the level of job satisfaction was examined by taking these two dimensions into consideration as a whole and separately.

A questionnaire was employed in order to collect data on job satisfaction as well as behavioral and psychological empowerment. The data collected were analyzed through correlation and regression analyses. The study covered 1,854 participants employed at five‐star hotels in Turkey.

The findings suggest that the most positive aspects related to job satisfaction are relations with the colleagues and physical conditions, while the most negative aspect is the wage issue, i.e. unfair payment. Furthermore, correlation and regression analyses indicate that psychological and behavioral empowerment has a significant effect on job satisfaction, and the effect is much greater when psychological and behavioral empowerment are taken as a whole.

The major limitation of this study is that it covers the employees of five‐star hotels only. Another important limitation of the study is the exclusion of variables mentioned in the literature. This apart, it is thought that the study will provide some insights for managers in terms of enhancing job satisfaction and the effect of empowerment on job satisfaction as well as making a contribution to the literature.

Studies into the relation between employee empowerment and job satisfaction on the whole focus on only one aspect of empowerment, i.e. either behavioral empowerment or psychological empowerment. This study incorporates behavioral and psychological empowerment together as the components of empowerment, unlike previous studies in the literature, in determining their effect on job satisfaction.

This paper aims to address an important question of what makes companies succeed or not in their attempt to empower employees. As this study answers this question, the arguments suggest that coordination is essential to creation of employee empowerment climate in organizations.

This is conceptual paper rooted in extensive research on both – empowerment (culture, climate and organizational structure) and coordination (formal and informal).

To help managers to be effective in their roles, this study presents four insights to creating empowerment climate. The arguments conclude that coordination provides a vessel for successful realization of empowerment. Specifically, only informal coordination (vs formal) will fully realize empowerment’s benefits. Given that the topic of empowerment is highly germane to managers in today’s context of the increasing number of employees working remotely, this work presents an important and actionable advance for managers.

This study represents original research that has not been published and is not currently under review at any other journal.

The business environment of construction organisations has undergone significant change over the last 50 years. As a result, construction management has had to respond to issues such as increasing levels of client expectation, globalisation of the construction economy, cut‐throat competition, and tight margins, plus the “inherent” obstacles to operating in the sector, such as separation of design and construction, fragmented production methods, adversarial relationships, and a reluctance to innovate and take up information technology. Furthermore, the problems of poor and unstructured training, multi‐tiered management systems, and poor communication provide less than optimal conditions for achieving high quality products in good time and to budget. One approach to addressing these issues is through the concept of employee empowerment. This paper presents an overview of the empowerment concept in the context of construction management, highlighting the hurdles, an implementation process, and achievable benefits.

Suggests that in spite of significant development in the area of empowerment in management, the implemental aspects of it have remained largely unexplored. Presents a model for the implementation of the empowering concepts and focusses on an empirical study of the introduction of empowerment in a large regulated work environment. Contends that empowerment is much more than an individualized concept and its relevance can only be fully understood through contextual synergy. Centres on the perspective that the key to empowerment lies in the degree of contextual preparedness of the organizational subunits or clusters. Takes an incremental approach which gradually spreads from the most prepared subunit to the one that is least prepared.