For more than a decade, public organizations have been adopting employee empowerment with the aim of improving performance and job satisfaction and promoting innovativeness. Our understanding of employee empowerment has been hindered by a dearth of empirical research on its uses and consequences in the public sector. Based on Bowen and Lawler’s conceptualization of employee empowerment, this study explores the link between various empowerment practices and perceived performance in federal agencies. It is found that empowerment practices aimed at providing employees with access to job-related knowledge and skills and at granting them discretion to change work processes have a positive and substantively significant influence on perceived performance. Other empowerment practices geared toward providing employees with information about goals and performance and offering them rewards based on performance are found, however, to have little bearing on perceptions of performance.
Bommer, W.H., Johnson, J.L., Rich, G.A., Podsakoff, P.M., & MacKenzie, S.B. (1995). On the interchangeability of objective and subjective measures of employee performance: A meta-analysis . Personnel Psychology, 48, 587-605.
5.
Borins, S. ( 2000). Loose cannons and rule breakers, or enterprising leaders? Some evidence about innovative public managers. Public Administration Review, 60, 498-507.
6.
Bowen, D.E., & Lawler, E.E., III. (1992). The empowerment of service workers: What, why, how, and when. Sloan Management Review, Spring, 31-39.
7.
Bowen, D.E., & Lawler, E.E., III. (1995). Empowering service employees. Sloan Management Review, Summer, 73-84.
8.
Brewer, G.A. ( 2005). In the eye of the storm: Frontline supervisors and federal agency performance. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 15, 505-527.
9.
Burnham, K.P., & Anderson, D.R. (2004). Multi-model inference: Understanding AIC and BIC in model selection. Sociological Methods and Research, 33, 261-304.
10.
Carroll, J.D. ( 1995). The rhetoric of reform and political reality in the National Performance Review. Public Administration Review, 55, 302-312.
11.
Conger, J.A., & Kanungo, R.N. ( 1988). The empowerment process: Integrating theory and practice . Academy of Management Review, 13, 471-482.
12.
Cote, J.A., & Buckley, R. ( 1988). Measurement error and theory testing in consumer research: An illustration of the importance of construct validation. Journal of Consumer Research, 14, 579-582.
13.
Coye, R.W., & Belohlav, J.A. (1995). An exploratory analysis of employee participation. Group & Organization Management , 20, 4-17.
14.
Crampton, S., & Wagner, J. ( 1994). Percept-percept inflation in micro-organizational research: An investigation of prevalence and effect. Journal of Applied Psychology, 79, 67-76.
15.
Cyert, R.M., & March, J.G. ( 1963). A behavioral theory of the firm. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
16.
Damanpour, F. ( 1991). Organizational innovation: A meta-analysis of effects of determinants and moderators. Academy of Management Journal , 34, 555-590.
17.
Fan, X., Thompson, B., & Wang, L. ( 1999). Effects of sample size, estimation method, and model specification on structural equation modeling fit indexes. Structural Equation Modeling, 6, 56-83.
18.
Golden, O. ( 1990). Innovation in public sector human services programs: The implications of innovation by "groping along." Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 9, 219-248.
19.
Gore, A. ( 1993). From red tape to results: Creating a government that works better & costs less. Report of the National Performance Review. Washington, DC: Govern Printing Office.
20.
Guthrie, J. ( 2001). High-involvement work practices, turnover, and productivity: Evidence from New Zealand. Academy of Management Journal, 44, 180-192.
21.
Hackman, J.R., & Oldham, G.R. ( 1976). Motivation through the design of work: Test of a theory . Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 16, 250-279.
22.
Heneman, R.L. ( 1986). The relationship between supervisory ratings and results-oriented measures of performance. Personnel Psychology, 41, 811-826.
23.
Herrenkohl, R.C., Judson, G.T., & Heffner, J.A. ( 1999). Defining and measuring employee empowerment. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 35, 373-389.
24.
Kanter, R.M. ( 1979). Power failures in management circuits. Harvard Business Review, 57, 65-75.
25.
Kanter, R.M. ( 1983). The change masters: Innovations for productivity in the American corporation. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.
26.
Kaufman, H. ( 1960). The forest ranger: A study in administrative behavior . Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
27.
Kearney, R.C., & Hays, S.W. ( 1998). Reinventing government, the new public management, and civil service systems in international perspective: The danger of throwing away the baby with the bathwater. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 18, 38-54.
28.
Keenan, A., & Newton, T.J. ( 1984). Frustration in organizations: Relationships to role stress, climate, and psychological strain. Journal of Occupational Psychology, 57, 57-65.
29.
Kellough, J.E., & Lu, H. ( 1993). The paradox of merit pay in the public sector. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 13, 45-64.
30.
Kellough, J.E., & Nigro, L.C. ( 2002). Pay for performance in Georgia State Government: Employee perspectives on Georgia Gain after 5 years. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 22, 146-166.
31.
Kettl, D.F. ( 1994). Appraising the NPR. The Public Manager , 23, 3-8.
32.
Kettl, D.F. ( 2000). The global public management revolution: A report on the transformation of governance. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.
33.
Kim, S. ( 2002). Participative management and job satisfaction: Lessons for management leadership. Public Administration Review, 62, 231-241.
34.
Kirkman, B.L., & Rosen, B. ( 1999). Beyond self-management: Antecedents and consequences of team empowerment. Academy of Management Journal, 42, 58-74.
35.
Kotter, J.P. ( 1979). Power in management. New York, NY : Amacom.
36.
Langbein, L.I. ( 2000). Ownership, empowerment, and productivity: Some empirical evidence on the causes and consequences of employee discretion. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 19, 427-449.
37.
Lawler, E.E., III. ( 1973). Motivation in work organizations. Monterey, CA: Goodyear.
38.
Lawler, E.E., III., Mohrman, S.A., & Ledford, G.E. ( 1992). The Fortune 1000 and total quality. Quality and Participation, 15(5), 6-10.
39.
Lawler, E.E., III., Mohrman, S.A., & Ledford, G.E. ( 1995). Creating high performance organizations: Impact of employee involvement and total quality management. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
40.
Lee, H., Cayer, N.J., & Lan, G.Z. ( 2006). Changing federal government employee attitudes since the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 26, 21-51.
41.
Levitt, T. ( 1972). Production-line approach to service. Harvard Business Review, 50(5), 41-52.
42.
Levitt, T. ( 1976). Industrialization of service. Harvard Business Review, 54(5), 63-74.
43.
Lewis, D.E. ( 2008). The politics of presidential appointments: Political control and bureaucratic performance. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
44.
Likert, R. ( 1967). The human organization. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
45.
Long, J.S. ( 1997). Regression methods for categorical and limited dependent variables. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE .
46.
Long, J.S., & Freese, J. ( 2005). Regression models for categorical dependent variables using Stata (2nd ed.). College Station, TX: Stata Press.
47.
Matheson, C. ( 2007). In praise of bureaucracy? A dissent from Australia. Administration & Society, 39, 233-261.
48.
McGregor, D. ( 1960). The human side of enterprise. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
49.
McKelvey, R.D., & Zavoina, W. ( 1975). A statistical model for the analysis of ordinal level dependent variables. Journal of Mathematical Sociology, 4, 103-120.
50.
Meier, K.J., & O’Toole, L.J., Jr. (2001). Managerial strategies and behavior in networks: A model with evidence from U.S. public education . Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 11, 271-295.
51.
Mintzberg, H. ( 1979). The structuring of organizations. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
52.
Nielsen, J.F., & Pedersen, C.P. (2003). The consequences and limits of empowerment in financial services. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 19, 63-83.
53.
O'Toole, L.J., Jr. and Meier, K.J.1999. "Modeling the Impact of Public Management: Implications of Structural Context." Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 9: 505-526.
54.
Park, S.M., & Rainey, H.G. ( 2007). Antecedents, mediators, and consequences of affective, normative, and continuance commitment: Empirical tests of commitment effects in federal agencies. Review of Public Personnel Administration , 27, 197-226.
55.
Perry, J.L., Mesch, D., & Paarlberg, L. ( 2006). Motivating employees in a new governance era: The performance paradigm revisited. Public Administration Review, 66, 505-514.
56.
Perry, J.L., Petrakis, B.A., & Miller, T.K. ( 1989). Federal merit pay, round II: An analysis of the performance management and recognition system. Public Administration Review , 49, 29-37.
57.
Perry, R.W. ( 2004). The relationship of affective organizational commitment with supervisory trust. Review of Public Personnel Administration , 24, 133-149.
58.
Peters, B.G. ( 1996). The future of governing: Four emerging models. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.
59.
Peters, L.H., & O’Connor, E.J. (1980). Situational constraints and work outcomes: The influences of a frequently overlooked construct. Academy of Management Review, 5, 391-397.
60.
Pfeffer, J. ( 1997). New directions for organization theory: Problems and prospects. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
61.
Podsakoff, P.M., MacKenzie, S.B., Lee, J., & Podsakoff, N. ( 2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 879-903.
62.
Pollitt, C. ( 1990). Managerialism and the public services. Oxford, England: Blackwell.
63.
Rainey, H.G. ( 2003). Understanding and managing public organizations. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
64.
Rainey, H.G., & Bozeman, B. ( 2000). Comparing public and private organizations: Empirical research and the power of the a priori. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 10, 447-469.
65.
Rainey, H.G., & Steinbauer, P.J. (1999). Galloping elephants: Developing elements of a theory of effective public organizations. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 9, 1-32.
Salancik, G.R., & Pfeffer, J. ( 1974). The bases and use of power in organizational decision making: The case of a university. Administrative Science Quarterly , 19, 453-473.
68.
Schumacker, R.E., & Lomax, R.G. ( 2004). A beginner’s guide to structural equation modeling . Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Spector, P.E., Dwyer, D.J., & Jex, S.M. ( 1988). Relation of job stressors to affective, health, and performance outcomes: A comparison of multiple data sources. Journal of Applied Psychology, 73, 11-19.
71.
Spector, P.E., & Jex, S.M. ( 1991). Relations of job characteristics from multiple data sources with employee affect, absence, turnover intentions, and health. Journal of Applied Psychology, 76, 46-53.
72.
Spreitzer, G.M. ( 1995). Psychological empowerment in the workplace: Dimensions, measurement, and validation. Academy of Management Journal , 38, 1442-1465.
73.
Spreitzer, G.M. ( 1996). Social structural characteristics of psychological empowerment . Academy of Management Journal, 39, 483-504.
74.
Spreitzer, G.M., de Janasz, S.C., & Quinn, R.E. ( 1999). Empowered to lead: The role of psychological empowerment in leadership. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 20, 511-526.
75.
Thompson, V.A.1965. "Bureaucracy and Innovation." Administrative Science Quarterly, 10: 1-20.
76.
Thomas, K.W., & Velthouse, B.A. (1990). Cognitive elements of empowerment: An "interpretive" model of intrinsic task motivation. Academy of Management Review, 15, 666-681.
77.
Thompson, J.R. ( 2000). Reinvention as reform: Assess the National Performance Review. Public Administration Review, 60, 508-521.
78.
Vroom, V. ( 1964). Motivation and work. New York, NY : Wiley.
79.
Walker, R.M., & Boyne, G.A. ( 2006). Public management reform and organizational performance: An empirical assessment of the UK Labour Government’s public service improvement strategy. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management , 25, 371-393.
80.
Winship, C., & Mare, R.D. ( 1984). Regression models with ordinal variables. American Sociological Review, 49, 512-525.
81.
Wright, B.E., & Kim, S. ( 2004). Participation’s influence on job satisfaction: The importance of job characteristics. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 24, 18-40.
