Management information system ip2 - Essay Example

Employee Empowerment Employee Empowerment What exactly is employee empowerment? Employee empowerment is abroad concept that applies to the increased range of powers that are given to the employees to increase their rate of productivity. The term has been used to describe the economic, commercial and political development of an employee in the interest of the company. It gives the employees the right to practice democracy in the right way as proposed by Martin Beime(Beime 2006 p.3-5).What are the pros from the perspective of the employee?

The employees generally believe that they have a right to administer their work in accordance to their needs. The concept of empowerment provides them a reason to work for the betterment of the company. A research conducted by Greasley et al shows that the employees are able to relate to the concept of empowerment in a different way than the supervisors. The employees believe that they are provided with the responsibility of completing a certain task and this inflates them to complete the particular task in a remarkable manner.

Other than the sense of responsibility, the employees also believe that they get a ‘control of work’ which provides them to manage their tasks accordingly. In other words the employees are able to work in a manner that is beneficial to both the employer and the employee himself (Greasley et al 2008).What are the pros from the perspective of the supervisor? Employee Empowerment is considered as a source of high productivity by the supervisors. The supervisors can provide the employees with work and can create a unified goal which helps in increasing the productivity at a large scale.

The supervisor is able to motivate the employee and hence optimize the performance in accordance to the needs. The supervisor tends to feel safe when handing the employees work because he/she believes that the employee would be able to take the responsibility on his own. In other words the level of trust increases between the supervisor and the employee (Potterfield 1999 p.123-124; Lashley p. 62-64).How does employee empowerment relate to whether management believes in theory X or Y style of management and the decision-making process?

The theory X of management and decision-making process revolves around an authoritative form of leadership in which the managers hold the sole authority of making decisions whereas the theory Y states that the employees have an equal say in the decision making process. Employee Empowerment is a concept that relates to the theory Y as the managers give equal options to the employees when it comes to make decisions. Theory Y states that the managers should coach the employees in such a way that they are able to make their decisions with confidence and employee empowerment automatically instills confidence in the employees (Griffin 2012 p.39).Generally speaking, how does employee empowerment work in unionized environments? Why? Employee Empowerment has a very broad scope when working under unionized environments.

Unions were particularly formed to empower the employees so that they are satisfied with the working conditions. It is in these unionized environments that the employees have a greater say in the procedures of the company they are working in. Employee Empowerment is one of the main concepts behind the formation of labor unions and hence it works towards improving the lives of the employees. The unions believe that empowerment of the employees can have a mutual benefit for both the employer and the employee.

It can be said that the broad concept of employee empowerment has changed the lives of employees all over the world. The employees are given enough powers in their workplace that they get satisfied and increase their productivity in accordance to the demand of the workplace.ReferencesTop of FormTop of FormTop of FormTop of FormTop of FormBottom of Form Bottom of Form Bottom of FormBeirne, M. (2006). Empowerment and innovation: Managers, principles and reflective practice. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.

Greasley, Kay, Bryman, Alan, Dainty, Andrew R.J., Price, Andrew D.F., Naismith, Nicola, & Soetanto, Robby.Understanding empowerment from an employee perspective: what does it mean and do they want it?. Team Performance Management, 14 (1-2), Pp.39-55.Griffin, R. W. (2012). Management. Mason, OH: CENGAGE Learning Custom Publishing.Lashley, C. (2001). Empowerment: HR strategies for service excellence. Oxford: Butterworth/Heinemann.Potterfield, T. A. (1999). The business of employee empowerment: Democracy and ideology in the workplace.

Westport, Conn: Quorum Books.Bottom of Form Bottom of Form