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Work and Occupations, Vol. 29, No. 3, 272-299 (2002)
DOI: 10.1177/0730888402029003002

Empowerment and Managerial Labor Strategies

Pragmatism Regained

PAUL EDWARDS

University of Warwick, United Kingdom

MARGARET COLLINSON

University of Warwick, United Kingdom

Hopes that senior managers attach to programs of empowerment are often dashed in practice. Yet, little research has been conducted into whether lower level managers embrace the language of empowerment, and if not, how they view efforts to develop employee commitment. Case study research in six named organizations in the United Kingdom reveals that managers did not use the term empowerment and that they distinguished its claims to give substantial freedom to employees from more meaningful concepts such as autonomy and involvement. Empowerment meant little because of the financial and other constraints on autonomy, whereas more specific efforts to improve involvement had clear effects on employee behavior. The language of empowerment is not used to mislead workers and hence theories that see empowerment as an insidious form of labor control are not sustained.


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