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Vlad writes in part

>>I am currently preparing a 10-hour course on delegation and empowerment
for adult students -- lower-level managers of a multinationl corporation. I
would really appreciate if you could share with me some references,
articles, cases, and perhaps even PowerPoint presentations on this subject.
<<

I don't have a reference in the sense of articles. I do have a
'definition' which I have found helpful in clarifying the concept of
'empowerment.'

Another of my old 3M bosses defined 'empowerment' this way: Empowerment is
when you give something to someone that you simply cannot take back. If
you give someone authority to make a decision, but both of you know that
you retain the right to overrule that person's decision, you haven't
empowered her/him. On the other hand, if you teach someone to read, you
have empowered that person.

Michael A

Michael Ayers
mbayers@earthlink.net <=> www.TheCommonwealthPractice.com
-> Who are you gonna be while you're doing what you do? <-
612.308.0501 (mobile)

Vlad,

Given you seem to be working with middle managers you may find a couple of articles I wrote some time ago of use:-



Employee Involvement and the Middle Manager: Evidence from a Survey of Organizations


Mark Fenton-O'Creevy


Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 19, No. 1. (Jan., 1998), pp. 67-84.


Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0894-3796%28199801%2919%3A1%3C67%3AEIATMM%3E2.0.CO%3B2-O


Abstract

Although the literature on employee involvement suggests that some organizations experience significant benefits to employee attitudes and productivity, the results from individual studies vary widely. This study focuses on those factors that may mediate the success or failure of employee involvement practices, especially the role played by middle managers. A postal survey of 155 organizations examined the perceived outcomes of different employee involvement practices and the support or resistance attributed to middle managers. Hypothesized correlates of middle management resistance to employee involvement were examined. As hypothesized, positive outcomes of employee involvement were lower in organizations that experienced middle management resistance. The study supports the view that middle managers may resist employee involvement practices in response to threats to self interest (managerial job loss and delayering). However, lack of congruence between organizational systems and structures and the goals of EI and divided or unclear senior management support for EI were also found to be strongly related to middle management resistance.

Title: Employee involvement and the middle manager: saboteur or scapegoat?
Authors: Fenton-O'Creevy, Mark1 m.p.fenton-ocreevy@open.ac.uk
Source: Human Resource Management Journal; 2001, Vol. 11 Issue 1, p24-40, 17p, 5 charts, 1 diagram, 1 graph
Document Type: Article
Subject Terms: *INDUSTRIAL relations
*MANAGEMENT -- Employee participation
Abstract: The results of a study of managers' attitudes to employee involvement are discussed. Contrary to a number of existing studies, it has been found that middle managers' attitudes are no more negative than those of senior managers. As hypothesized, managers' intentions to support employee involvement were found to be inversely related to recent managerial job loss and positively related to managers' experience of employee involvement. A positive relationship was revealed between recent delayering and intentions to support the involvement of employees. It was also revealed that there exists a complex curvilinear relationship between managers' perceptions of their own empowerment and their attitudes to employee involvement.
Author Affiliations: 1Open University Business School
ISSN: 0954-5395
Accession Number: 11479792

Mark

Prof. Mark Fenton-O'Creevy
Director, Programmes and Curriculum
& Professor of Organisational Behaviour
Open University Business School
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
United Kingdom


e-mail: m.p.fenton-ocreevy@open.ac.uk
(DL) +44 (0)1908-655804
Fax: +44 (0)1908-655898







________________________________

From: Management Education and Development Discussion on behalf of Vlad Vaiman
Sent: Wed 10/05/2006 15:18
To: MG-ED-DV@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
Subject: Empowerment and Delegation


Dear Colleagues,

I am currently preparing a 10-hour course on delegation and empowerment for adult students -- lower-level managers of a multinationl corporation. I would really appreciate if you could share with me some references, articles, cases, and perhaps even PowerPoint presentations on this subject.

I will also summarize the results and share them among the members of our community.

Thanks in advance!

With best regards,

Vlad Vaiman
FH Joanneum
University of Applied Sciences
Graz, Austria