The Power Behind Empowerment: Implications for Research and Practice

The 1990s have been called the “empowerment era,” yet growing evidence suggests that empowerment programs often fail to meet the expectations of both managers and employees. To provide a better understanding as to why empowerment programs often fail and to suggest how such failures may be averted, we examine the power behind empowerment. Ironically, although power and empowerment are inextricably linked, much of the work on empowerment in the business literature has been devoid of any discussion of power. We present a four-dimensional model which shows the multifaceted way in which power works. In it, we observe the similarities and differences in the ways that different theorists have approached the study of power, notably those ascribing to mainstream, critical, and Foucauldian perspectives. We then use this power model as a lens with which to examine empowerment practices in business. This analysis suggests a number of possible reasons for the failure of business empowerment programs and provides directions for future research and practice which might address these shortcomings.