Empowerment and Innovation: Managers, Principles and Reflective Practice

Citation

Cromb, D. (2007), "Empowerment and Innovation: Managers, Principles and Reflective Practice", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 28 No. 1, pp. 98-99. https://doi.org/10.1108/01437730710731619

This book is an advocacy of empowerment in the workplace. It has been written to assist those managers who want to convert the concept of employee empowerment into practical reality. The author cuts through the rhetoric and failed “empowerment” initiatives, in order to give proper meaning to empowerment and to enable a difference to be made in the quality of work life.

Empowerment is viewed by some as an economic activity with a focus on its market potential through realising the value of untapped human resources. Empowerment can be viewed through the principles of fairness and consensus; and it can be viewed as a democratising process. The notion of empowerment varies in terms of the aims and ambitions that are attached to the topic. For this author, empowerment is essentially about collective influence and the sharing of knowledge, insight and experience to improve organisational performance. But he takes it further, noting that empowerment is imbued with democratic credentials and concerns for social justice, not confined just to the workplace or to internal functioning.

The author says that the book “… aims for a more inclusive understanding of the complex mix of interests, interpretations, and struggles that surround employee empowerment  … ”. He does this through placing matters in their social and organisational context, and through connecting theory, evidence and practice. Although it is a slim volume, it is thorough in its coverage. The author is an academic and he has produced an academic text, with 14 pages of references. However, although it is not a “how to” or a “quick guide” book, neither is it a difficult book to read, even though examining all the evidence does take some time to get through. The book attempts to reverse what the author believes to be the general ineffectiveness of critical commentators in speaking to the challenges that confront practitioners.

The opening chapter examines whether an era of consensus management is possible. The first section reviews the prescriptive images and pronouncements regarding empowerment, with the second section examining the location of “power” in empowerment.

The book then splits into two parts. The first part examines contemporary development and focuses on and critiques the extant research, from theoretical through to case study. A quick summary could be that the reported successes are not always what they claim to be, but neither are the reported failures. This part concentrates on the linkage to scrutinising, thinking and reflecting, building upon the emerging tendency to cultivate analytical and interpretive capabilities through critical management studies. Three chapters examine teamworking, technology, structures, culture, management and innovation. Noticeable in the critique is the recurrence of the theme of tension between traditional management policies and practices (and associated power) and empowerment and innovation initiatives. The case of Volvo and the closure of its team‐based facility at Uddevalla, despite indicators showing both positive and superior returns, is especially instructive in showing how organisational politics, as well as traditional management ideas and values, can work against innovative practitioners.

One concern of the author is that the perceived problems (that is, failures) of management actions in the past are a legacy which generates obstacles and constraints for the current and future. The danger is that the failures are better known than the successes, leading people to question or challenge innovations rather than to commit themselves wholeheartedly. The second part of the book examines the available support for those with a positive outlook, recognising the managerial challenge of aligning principles and ambitions with situated learning and sustainable collaboration. There is, as the author says, “down to earth guidance about what helps and hinders” that is drawn from the case material from the early chapters. This is accompanied by insights from research into community theatre, as community theatre practitioners are also de facto managers. The final chapter examines public policy and the regulatory framework through which voluntary commitments to empowerment are articulated.

There is a pleasing, positive tone to the book. Clearly the author believes that the quality of work life needs to be improved and that innovative management approaches are the means to do so. His critiques are the means through which ways forward are to be found. Given the power of entrenched management thinking, it is probable that practising managers seeking to improve their organisations will continue to be thwarted in their actions for some time to come. There is a need for policy makers to give greater guidance to senior executives and for researchers to focus on an applied research agenda to support such initiatives. It is likely that these groups will be the main audience for this book. Notwithstanding, there is much here for progressive managers, and it is for this audience that the book has been written. All will benefit from the insights found through this deep examination of the subject.