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(1997),"A review of the literature on employee empowerment", Empowerment in Organizations, Vol. 5 Iss 4 pp. 202-212
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(1998),"Empowerment: theory and practice", Personnel Review, Vol. 27 Iss 1 pp. 40-56 http://
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(1994),"Employee Empowerment", Empowerment in Organizations, Vol. 2 Iss 3 pp. 45-55 http://
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inappropriate to treat the small firm as a microcosm of a large organisation. The small business
is qualitatively as well as quantitatively different and this article propounds that it is questionable
whether the concept of empowerment and its various dimensions as portrayed in the literature are
readily transferable to small businesses. It is suggested that empowering management approaches
are key features of successful growth-oriented small firms but the current body of empowerment
literature fails to encapsulate the idiosyncrasies and informalities of the small business operation,
and thus convey understanding of the unique and novel forms of empowerment which facilitate
sustainable development. Case study insight is used to support these propositions.
Introduction
The overall aim of this article is to explore the nebulous concept of
“empowerment” within the context of small business management and to
suggest that, while much of the academic literature tends to discuss the concept
from a variety of informative perspectives and dimensions, in the main such
discussion fails to address the distinctive characteristics and idiosyncrasies of
the small business.
All organisations, large and small, are today struggling to develop in an
external operating environment which is epitomised by turbulence and
uncertainty. Practitioners and academics alike are focusing on the need for
effective utilisation of people as the key resource in maintaining competitive
advantage in such an uncertain environment. Within this context of effective
people management, “empowerment”, often perceived as another buzz-word for
“employee involvement or participation” or some variation of “delegation”, has
received a great deal of attention, sometimes being proffered as the “elixir” to
organisational success.
Within the small business context research shows that owner-managers
view people management as one of their most important roles, and yet one of
the tasks they find the most difficult (Hankinson et al., 1997). While a multitude
of theories, concepts and guiding frames of insight have emerged over the years
and are embraced within the human resource management knowledge base, it
Participation & Empowerment: An
can be argued that much of this knowledge has relevance to large organisations
International Journal, Vol. 7 No. 7,
1999, pp. 180-193. © MCB University
and fails to address the distinctive characteristics of the small business. This
Press, 1463-4449 paper commences by portraying the small business as a potential unique
problem type whereby qualitative as well as quantitative differences Empowerment
distinguish it from the large company. Such a conceptualisation is utilised to in small
demonstrate the high level complexity of the small firm management task as it businesses
strives to cope with the vagaries of the contemporary operating environment.
Attention is drawn to the dangers of viewing the small firm as a microcosm of
a large company and to the potentially limited utility of people management
theories, concepts and approaches which are propounded as applicable within 181
the large company context.
Having distinguished the small business context and warned of the need for
caution in the uptake of management knowledge bases which may not fully
address that context, the concept of “empowerment” is examined as a
propounded “mechanism” for the efficient and effective utilisation of the human
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resource. It is suggested that while a great deal has been written about
“empowerment” in recent years, the concept as developed within the literature
is, in the main, oriented toward large organisations and much of its content
cannot be readily “transferred” to small businesses. It is further suggested,
however, that, if considered within the distinct operating contexts of the small
business, “empowering management processes” may indeed be a distinctive
feature of those small businesses which succeed in sustaining ongoing
development, and that such management activity has not yet been encapsulated
in the “empowerment” literature.
The article supports these suggestions by drawing on insight derived from
the authors’ ongoing research into the sustainable strategic development of
successful small business within the transitional economy context of Russia,
the developing economy context of Malaysia and the developed economy
context of the UK. A case study is utilised to suggest how empowering
management approaches may be key features of effective management in
growth-oriented small businesses. The base insight from the case is then
integrated with overall understanding derived from our ongoing research in its
totality to emphasise the potential role of empowerment in the small firm in
facilitating the learning about and acting on unknowable open-ended change
which predominantly impacts on the contemporary business. It is thus a
strategic learning perspective to the unfolding of understanding of
“empowerment” within small business which is offered as an innovative
context for enhancing understanding of what empowerment may mean in a
small firm context.
The article concludes by suggesting that if we are to understand what
empowerment means within growth-oriented small firms, we must expect to
find that the informalities and idiosyncrasies of such businesses will see
successful small businesses “empowering” their workforce through
management approaches not fully reflected in the current “empowerment”
literature. This may sometimes be by mechanistic means (such as at the level of
steady state production activity where a devolving of responsibility may be
apparent at the margins), occasionally be opportunistic or ad hoc and at times
may be viewed as a “natural facilitating” management approach whereby the
PEIJ positioning of key workforce provides the potential for their empowerment to
7,7 underpin organisational learning from their day-to-day interfaces with key
informants on the boundaries of the firm’s activities.
Empowerment
Empowerment is in vogue. It could be perceived as another “buzz word” of the
1990s referred to in all nature of business literature, videos which expound its
valuable utilisation in the workplace and as part of everyday “business speak”.
However, there are perceived difficulties. What is it? Arguably, there can be no
definitive framing of a concept: as Lashley and McGoldrick (1994, p. 23) state,
“… one of the ‘limits’ of empowerment is a lack of conceptual rigour in the ways
the term is actually used”. For Cole (1997, p. 373) a sound conceptualisation of
empowerment would see it as “a method of delegation which enables work
decisions to be taken as near as possible to the operating units and their
customers – both internal and external”. This portrayal reflects the view of
Mitchel Stewart (1994, p. 6), who purports not only the “devolving of tasks” but
“decision making and full responsibility”. Marchington and Wilkinson (1996, p.
112) determine that “improved levels of customer service” have been achieved
by some organisations by moving away from rigid job descriptions and
“working to contract” towards a culture of “beyond contract” which encourages
“employee initiative and empowerment”.
Attempted “definitions” of “empowerment” appear, to a great extent, to be a
variation on a theme. Each one of us internalises the concept in a slightly
different way. For example, Smith and Mouly (1998) explore the difficulty of
“definition” and determine from their case studies that there were differing
perceptions by employees as to the nature of empowerment.
Honold’s (1997) enlightening review of the literature on employee
empowerment suggests that current understanding is embedded in five
groupings within the literature:
(1) leadership’s role in creating an empowering context within an
organisation;
(2) the individual empowered state;
(3) collaborative work as empowerment;
PEIJ (4) structural or procedural change as empowerment;
7,7 (5) the multi-dimensional perspective encapsulating much of these four
categories.
In highlighting the roots of the concept of employee empowerment, Honold
gives emphasis to the wealth of relevant management knowledge developed
184 over the years and apparently capable of serving as effective guiding
management vehicles for organisations striving to bring the best out their key
“people resource” by some form of underlying “empowering” management
approach. The build-up of understanding of the concept of empowerment is, of
course, significantly embedded in the human relations school of understanding
and influencing organisations which provided a new language for managers
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(Lawrence and Lee, 1989). The highly influential works of Herzberg (1966, 1968)
and Maslow (1954) provide guiding motivational models which highlight clear
advantages and benefits for empowering management approaches: Herzberg’s
two-factor theory, for example, propounds the benefits of “job enrichment”
whereby interest, challenge, responsibility and problem-based learning are,
where possible, built into a job. In the area of leadership, key works within the
literature portray shifts from an early focus on the quest for a one best
leadership style through to the benefits of a contingency approach to leadership
(for example, Blake and Mouton, 1964; Hersey and Blanchard, 1972), whereby
the manager’s approach to getting the best out of the workforce will depend on
the nature of the task in hand and its operating context, the quality and
characteristics of the workers themselves as well as the manager’s own
characteristics and preferred leadership style. Clearly, the motivation and
leadership literature point to, in some situational and worker-capability/needs
contexts, the potential to get the best out of employees through empowering
management approaches such as delegating responsibility, authority and
power to subordinates in order to anchor their capabilities fully. Moreover, more
recently the literature has begun to bring attention to the benefits associated
with organisational leaders effecting collaborative working which extends
beyond mere “group” work (involving a piecemeal collection of individuals)
toward “team” working, whereby individuals have a collective rationale where
there is clear understanding that individual performance contributes directly to
the overall good (Godfrey, 1990). Such a team context has the potential to derive
high level organisational returns by, for example, giving individuals the
authority to anchor their perspectives, understanding and learning to the good
of the collective whole.
Adding a further complementary quality to the human relations view of
organisations and its “tool kit” of empowerment-based management
approaches, is, moreover, the view that organisations are not a unitary whole,
but a loose and dynamic “coming together” of sectional groups and individuals
(Lawrence and Lee, 1989) and thus should be treated as a “pluralist” model (that
is, the political school of thought). We learn from this school that individuals or
groups within a business may constrain empowering attempts at management.
Also, careful consideration of power-bases among, and aspirations of, Empowerment
individuals or groups can facilitate the sharing of power to the benefit of the in small
organisation as a whole (Handy, 1976; Pfeffer, 1981). businesses
Clearly, the literature has much to offer in its build-up of insight over time in
terms of enhancing understanding of what empowerment may or could mean
for different organisations and different operating contexts within
organisations; as such, it offers high potential in providing guiding frames to 185
aid in the effective management of people. Whether the propounded
management approaches and techniques integral to this literature begin
effectively to address the opportunities, problems and management issues
which epitomise the world of small business practice is, however, highly
questionable. It is on this issue which the remainder of this paper focuses.
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In order to achieve this insight, areas of the qualitative case study research of
the authors relating to the sustainable development of small firms are utilised to
provide empirical input from which to begin to draw tentative conclusions.
operational behaviour are worked through. Those change ideas in turn are
bounced back for feedback and views of the suppliers or other key external
informants. Agents, distributors and suppliers are felt to be “very important,
your fingers, your feelers”.
The build-up of an overall working network of contacts also involves
interface on the world stage at upholstery machinery fairs, paper manufacture
fairs and furniture trade fairs, all of which allow for the build-up of insight to
inform decisions on appropriate mode of entry and operation within specific
markets.
The, at times, opportunistic nature of the strategic actions of this firm holds
deep significance. Active external environment interface through an ongoing
discovery mode of management sees the firm unfolding its own future and
moving down strategic development paths it never envisaged.
Commensurate with the growth of activities, the owner-managers have had
to effect changes in the style and types of management – latterly toward a more
professional management. When small in operation, the three owner-managers
held many portfolios of responsibility but, as the firm has grown, middle
managers have been built-in – an export manager, project manager and six
operations managers. “The middle ranking is taking over part of our portfolio”.
The three owner-manager directors have responsibilities relating to:
(1) market development, product development and promotion;
(2) finance;
(3) projects and contracts (hotels, corporate sector, etc.).
With regard to underpinning growth with relevant skilled people resources, the
firm’s attitude can be exemplified by reference to engineering capabilities where
they have tried engineers with Masters degrees but this has not proved wholly
successful: “sometimes the best people are our lower rank workers to move up
to run things. It takes an MBA six months to digest such areas as fabrics. A
supervisor has built up crucial experience so he gets promoted. He can respond
effectively to our branch managers which is crucial”. It is felt that very few
external “experts” exist who have sub-sector specific knowledge. This, in turn,
is balanced by clear evidence that some other members of the workforce are not Empowerment
fully trusted: the owner-management clearly felt uncomfortable with the in small
prospect of relinquishing power to these individuals beyond certain limits. businesses
Indeed, tight control mechanisms were in place to limit the freedom of these
staff.
Effectively, empowering management activities within this firm begin to
emerge as “contingent processes”: adherence to and relaxation of the 187
management control paradigm is contingent on owner-manager preferences,
the nature of organisational tasks and activities and owner-manager confidence
and trust with regard to particular employees. Empowerment thus exists in
parts of the organisation manifesting in a variety of dimensions and often
embedded in informal and idiosyncratic management processes.
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Conclusion
It appears that the adoption of a strategic learning perspective to the unfolding
of understanding of the form and role of empowerment within a small business
supports the notions emphasised by Honold (1997) that no single set of
contingencies can describe empowerment – that it is multi-dimensional.
PEIJ Small businesses are potentially ingrained with disempowering structures,
7,7 many of which derive from owner-manager and size-related characteristics
which we argue above can manifest in unique problem types impacting on the
small firm. For example, one can expect to find that owner-manager attitudes
and motivations in many small firms centre around independence, autonomy
and control manifesting in an autocratic management style whereby any forms
190 of delegation or empowerment are kept to a minimum. For others, one way of
circumventing the impact of potential unique problem types is to create an
empowering culture whereby empowerment and self-empowerment become
more “a way of doing things around here”, albeit often in a rather ad hoc or
opportunistic situation – and employee-specific manner. In such firms we begin
to understand the multi-dimensional nature of empowerment in terms of:
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