Employee empowerment and team performance: Autonomy, responsibility, information, and creativity
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of employee empowerment on team performance in the context of municipal work teams. Four different dimensions of employee empowerment are identified: autonomy, responsibility, information, and creativity.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a survey of 176 US municipal government employees, this study conducted an OLS multiple regression analysis. The study regressed the dependent variable, team performance, on the four independent variables: autonomy, responsibility, information, and creativity.
Findings
The regression analysis provided empirical evidence in support of the four hypotheses proposed in this study. The study reveals that autonomy, responsibility, information, and creativity each have positive and significant effects on team performance.
Practical implications
The study suggests that employee empowerment programs should consider different dimensions of empowerment. At least, managers need to keep in mind the four dimensions of empowerment discussed in this research. Understanding different dimensions of empowerment will enable managers to design and implement a successful empowerment program.
Originality/value
Prior research focused on developing conceptual models of the multiple dimensions of empowerment. This paper took one step further and provided empirical evidence.
Keywords
Citation
Yang, S. and Ok Choi, S. (2009), "Employee empowerment and team performance: Autonomy, responsibility, information, and creativity", Team Performance Management, Vol. 15 No. 5/6, pp. 289-301. https://doi.org/10.1108/13527590910983549
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2009, Emerald Group Publishing Limited