Empowerment is Essential to Increase Productivity Among Employee

1.Preliminary title:

Empowerment is essential to increase productivity among employee.

2.Research purpose:

The out come of employee empowerment in service industry can bring long-term success. The purpose of this research is to analysis and achieves depth knowledge and understanding on employee empowerment in the context of service industry by comparing the perspective of manager and employee. And provide suggestions to service industry how to gain more productively through empower the employee. This result will be obtained by testing the efficiency of the employee empowerment variables. The earlier discussion on employee empowerment in the service industry has lead to the main research question.

• How employee can be empowered for increasing productivity?
• What competitive advantage ‘employee empowerment' can bring for the company?

3.Rational

On this era, the arrival of an information-based, knowledge-intensive, service driven economy has forced a massive of change on companies worldwide, most dramatically in the way they must redefine their relationship with their employees (Bartlett 2002). Hill and Huq (2004) argued that specifically, it emanated from the realization that traditional hierarchical ‘command and control' organizations were struggling to meet the growing demands for flexibility and demands for flexibility and quality. The employees respond most excellent and creatively not when management does tightly control them, placed in narrowly defined job and treated like unwelcoming necessity. But instead, when they are given broader responsibilities, and encouraged to contribute and help to take satisfaction in their jobs (Walton 1985). That's why now a day, employee of organization and how management manages them are becoming more important because many other source of competitive success is less powerful than they once were.

Traditional sources of success- technology, protected or regulated market, access to financial resource and economies of scale can still provide competitive advantage, but to a lesser degree now than in the past, leaving organizational culture and capabilities, derived from how people are managed, as comparatively more vital (Henry and Maryle, 2002). As, organization's sustainable competitive advantage is its people that why management need to engage all the human resource to active company's long time success. In the modern world Empowerment is one of the key tools, which a manager can use frequently to involve and manage organization's people to achieve competitive advantage. As Campbell (2009,p8) pointed out that ‘‘People are your most valuable asset. To get the most out of employees, empower is essential''.

4.Literature review:

4.1.What is employee empowerment?

The aim of Empowerment to create a culture where employee have freedom to express themselves and have the liberty to make decisions about how they work, where there is always the opportunity to give constructive feedback, and where everyone is equal and approachable (Beaven 2009). So Empowerment implies give up central control, which will encourage speed, flexibility and determination of the employee. According to Campbell (2009), main meaning of empower employees is to give up some aspects of control. In return for giving up that control, managers will have more scope and time to look at the big picture and engage in strategic thinking. Styhre (2001) illustrated that empowermentis depicted by its proponents as the common denominator for recent managerial techniques and activities that acknowledge the individual employee as an intelligent, accountable, creative being, and therefore a productive resource for the company. Lashley (1997) argued that it is intended that through empowerment employees will be more committed to successful service encounters and will have the necessary discretion and autonomy to do whatever is needed to satisfy the customer.

4.2 .How to apply empowerment to increase productivity among employee?

Different organizations choose to empower their employees to different degrees; at the lowest level empowerment the employee has no autonomy to take decision. On the other hand, at the highest level the employee is given decision-making authority and can control their own performances( Daft ,2001). All these employees are often able to affect organizational goals, structure, as well as reward systems.

In order to empower employees, four different factors are Important. Those different factor work as an element to empower employee. Which will give the employees space to act more independently in accomplishing their jobs. According to Daft (2000) those are: information, knowledge, power and rewards.

1. Information: In any organizations where the employees are fully empowered, no information about the company is held secret for employee. That's why employees must receive every information about the performance of the company.
2. 2.Knowledge: Before and after empowering employees every company need to give training for increasing knowledge and skills of employee. Which build up their problem solving decision-making capability. As by having power of knowledge and skills, an employee can be able to contribute to the goals of the company.
3. Power: To make substantial decisions, employees must have the power. Which will increase employee involvement, confidante.
4. Rewarding: The employees need to get rewarded on the basis their performances and company's performance. The employees can be more committed towards the company by having true appreciation through psychologically and physically.

4.3.Advantages:

According to the literature, empowerment bring many positive result for the company like, quicker response to customer, communication and teamwork, employee satisfaction and increase their working value, reduce costs and economic profits, involvement, customer satisfaction/ recovery, increased employee efficiency, customer loyalty and new innovative idea for the organization (Campbell, 2009; Beaven, 2009; Bowen & Lawler, 2002; Styhre ,2001; Lashley, 1997). Empowered employee is more productive, psychologically and physically healthy, proactive and innovative, persistent in the work place, trustworthy, interpersonally efficient, intrinsically motivated, and have higher morale and commitment than employee who are not empowered (Whitten , 2007).

Earlier literature review has illustrated that empowerment can play a very vital rule in order to increases productivity among employees. Research need to be taken in order to gain better understanding this phenomenon on the context of present service industry. Now, research method need to chosen in order to complete the research successfully.

5.Research Methodology

5.1.Research approach

Rossman and Rallis (2003) stated that there are two different research methods that are frequently used when researchers are about to conduct research: the qualitative and the quantitative method. A quantitative method is mostly concern with measurements and to generalize the result.This means that qualitative research mostly humanistic research, which makes it possible to interpret as well as understand a phenomenon. The purpose of this research is to analysis and achieves depth knowledge and understanding on employee empowerment in the context of service industry by comparing the perspective of manager and employee. And provide suggestions to service industry to gain more productively through empower the employee. As this is a humanistic research qualitative approach will be very effective to do in-depth investigation.

5.2.Sampling

The researcher will select two service-oriented company to carry on sampling process. The reason for exploring different venues is to gather valuable data from different source. The method of contact to manager of relevant company for arranging interview session with manager and employee will through face-to-face, phone, or e-mail.

5.3.Data collection method

According to Silverman (2001), there are four main methods used in qualitative research are:

• Observation
• Analyzing texts and documents
• Interviews
• Recordings and transcribing.

The data will be conducted for the research in two distinct stages by the researcher to carry on this research. A short period of observation there will be done in the first stage. Marshall and Rossman (1999) demonstrated that observation entails the systematic nothing and recording of events, behaviours and artifact (objects) in the social setting chose for the study. At the second stage of the data collection will be involved a series of semi-structured, in-depth face to face interview with employee and manager with in selected organization.

5.4.Data analysis procedures:

Marshall and Rossman (1999) suggest that data analysis is the process of bringing order, structure and interpretation to the mass of collected data. Miles (1994) have demonstrated two models for analysis. The first one is researcher can analyze a separate case (within-case analysis). Then presents results by creating tables, checklists and matrix around collected, qualitative data by comparing the theory with empirical data in these tables and checklists. It will be easy to see similarities and differences on this model. At The second model, the researcher compares the results from different cases in a cross-case analysis.

Researcher will follow the first model where comparison will be made between literature and empirical data which be collected from manager and employee. The comparison will be done in order to identify patterns that would similar or different from the theory or literature.

5.5.Data capture

At the time of depth face-to-face interviews with interviewees, research will use voice recorder that he can give more attention on interview. Then researcher will transcribe date fordata analysis procedure, it has probable that the result would bring more accuracy.

5.6.Reliability and validity

To ensure reliability and validity, every face-to-face interview will be recorded and transcribed. Silverman, D (2001) argued that the quality of recording and transcripts has important implications on the reliability of conversation analytical research. For this reason, every transcription will be coded.

5.7.Proposed time schedule

Assuming 12 weeks of period has allocated for conducting this masters' research. Following this a proposed time schedule would be as follow:

Period	Activity
1st 2 week	Initial literature review
Next 2 week	Complete participant observation
Next 4 week	Arrange and conduct interviews; transcribe and analyse interview data
Next 2	Literature and further analysis of data
Rest of the week	Write up and submit completed thesis

Reference:

• Bartlett, Christopher A., Ghoshal and Sumantra (2002). BuildingCompetitiveAdvantage ThroughPeople. MIT Sloan Management Review. Vol. 43 Issue 2.pp.34-41.
• Beaven, D.2009. People make the difference.Logistics & Transport Focus. Vol. 11 Issue 6, pp45-47.
• Bowen, D.E. and Lawler, E.E. 2002. The empowerment of service workers: What, why, how and when. In: Henry. J and Mayle.D.ed. Managing innovation and change, Open University Business School, in association with sage, pp.243-273.
• Campbell, G.2009.Employee Empowerment. Quality.Vol.48 Issue 4, p 8.
• Daft, R. 2001. Organization Theory and Design, 7th Edition. South-Western College. Thompson Learning.
• Henry, J., Mayle, D.2002. Managing innovation and change. Open University Business School, in association with SAGE.pp61-73.
• Hill, F., Huq, R.2004. Employee Empowerment: Conceptualizations, Aims and Outcomes. Total Quality Management and Business Excellence, Vol. 15 Issue 8, pp1025-1041.
• Lashley, C.1999.Empowering service excellence in service. London: Cassell Publications.
• Miles, M.1994.Qualitative data analysis: an expanded sourcebook / Matthew B Miles. : Sage Publications, Inc.
• Marshall, C. and Rossman, G.B .1999. Designing Qualitative Research. 3rd Ed.London; Sage Publications.
• Rossman, B. G. & Rallis F. S. 2003. Learning in the Field: An Introduction to Qualitative Research.2nd ed. California: Sage Publications, Inc.
• Silverman, D .2001. Interpreting Qualitative data, Methods for Analyzing talk text and Interaction. 2nd Ed.sage London, p.14.
• Walton, Richard E.1985. Fromcontroltocommitmentintheworkplace. Harvard Business Review, Vol. 63 Issue 2. pp77-84.
• Whetten, David A and Cameron, Kim S.2008. Developing management skills. 7th edition, Prentice hall.

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