A

Project Study Report

On

“ A STUDY OF EMPLOYEE EMPOWERMENT IN

VARIOUS CATEGORIES OF HOTELS IN UDAIPUR

CITY”

Submitted in partial fulfillment for the

Award of degree of

Masters of Business Administration

Udaipur

Submitted By: - Submitted To:-

Richa Nerwal Prof. Sheela dashora

MBA Part II

PREFACE

Project study is an important part of the management course. Theoretical

studies in the class room are not sufficient to understand the function of

complex and large sized organization.

While completing the project, I learnt a lot many things. Apart from getting

hotel culture, my communication skills & overall interaction capabilities

have improved.

This project report has been an effort to summarize all the piece of

information gathered by me during my project study.

This research project analyzes the employee empowerment with respect

to attitude of manager and employee, degree of employee empowerment

in the workplace at various hotel groups and to study the impact of

organization culture on employee empowerment.

So in line with the over all scenario, this project divided into 5 chapters.

Chapter – 1 is about introduction to the industry, organization.

Chapter – 2 is about review of literature.

Chapter – 3 is about research methodology for this project that research is

descriptive type and data used in it are secondary data.

Chapter – 4 deals with analysis and interpretation obtained from the

questionnaire.

Chapter – 5 draws conclusions of the study.

Chapter – 6 deals with suggestions obtained from the study.

Finally, it was a learning experience for me. I came in contact with people

who work in hotel and their experience. It was a great exposure for me to

introduce myself to the hospitality world.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I express my sincere thanks to my project guide, Mrs. Shipra Narang for

guiding me right from the inception till the successful completion of the

project. I sincerely acknowledge her for extending their valuable guidance,

support for literature, critical review of project and the report and above all

the morel support she had provided to me with all stages of this project.

I am thankful to Prof. B.P.Sharma (Director) and all my teachers at Pacific

Institute of Management, Rajasthan Technical University Kota for their

guidance during my project study.

Last but not least, my special thanks to my parents, relatives and friends

for cooperating and supporting me through out this research study.

Date:

Place:

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

As a part of M.B.A. curriculum, I completed my project study at hotel

industry in Udaipur. I have done my project study in six hotels viz. The

Oberoi Udaivilas, City Palace, Shiv Niwas, Garden hotel, In the regency

and Raj Darshan.

Firstly, the topic of my project study is “A STUDY OF EMPLOYEE

EMPOWERMENT IN VARIOUS CATEGORIES OF HOTELS IN

UDAIPUR CITY” . For this purpose I have prepared questionnaire for

managers and employees separately. I took responses from above six

hotels to find out the empowerment continuum in which six hotels lies and

study the impact of organization culture on employee empowerment. I

interpreted data and found the three major empowerment continuums (self

directed, cross functional and participatory decision making) and found

positive impact of organization culture on employee empowerment.

Empowerment is a concept within management circles that has become

increasingly popular over the past 20 years. Its definition tends to vary

depending on the situation in which it is used. Empowerment is a human

resources term that involves a power transfer from higher levels of

employees to lower levels of employees within an organization. The theory

of empowerment is that employees when given the opportunity to enjoy

more autonomy in decision-making will enjoy greater satisfaction with their

jobs. This satisfaction provides catalytic assistance towards increased

organizational loyalty, productivity and customer satisfaction. If employees

are loyal, productive, and happy with their jobs, the organization benefits

through greater customer satisfaction.

Within the literature, empowerment runs the gamut of authority from the

ability to suggest items for incorporation up to and including the authority

to execute the suggestions without approval from higher management.

The management literature treats empowerment as a relational construct

emphasizing social exchange theory. In this context, empowerment is the

process where a manager shares power with subordinates. This power is

interpreted as the formal authority over organizational re-sources.

However, more prevalent is the psychology literature where the notion of

empowerment is viewed as a motivational construct focusing on intrinsic

characteristics of people Power is viewed as enabling people to develop

personal efficacy through creating conditions for heightened motivation for

task accomplishment.

The tourist hotel is a typical service industry, offering individual services

for tourists. Besides the physical facility, customers’ needs include the

various service provided by employees. Under keen competition in the

tourist hotel industry, how employees offer the best service to customers

has become the most important issue for hotel administrators. Due to the

intangibility of services and the heterogeneous characteristics of tourist

hotels, hotelkeepers must design their own systematic standards of

procedure for employees. However, supervisors cannot control the service

delivery process too rigidly, because employees need to retain adequate

flexibility to satisfy customers within their discretion. From the viewpoint of

managerial practice, those hotels, which emphasize individual service,

have adopted employee empowerment as a principal credo, so that

employees can identify customers’ needs promptly and take the initiative

to satisfy them.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER NO.

PARTICULATES PAGE NO.

1

1.1

1.2

1.3

INTRODUCTION

TO THE INDUSTRY

TO THE ORGANIZATION

CONCEPT : EMPLOYEE EMPOWERMENT

[1-56] 1

16

22

2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE [57-86]

3

3.1

3.2

3.3

3.4

3.5

3.6

3.7

RESEARCH METHEDOLOGY

TITLE OF THE STUDY

DURATION OF THE PROJECT

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

TYPE OF RESEARCH

COLLECTION OF DATA AND

SAMPLE SIZE

SCOPE OF STUDY

[87-91]

88

88

88

88

88

89

89

3.8 LIMITATION OF STUDY 91

4. FACTS AND FINDINGS [92-97]

5 ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION [98-99]

6 CONCLUSIONS [100-101]

7SUGGESTIONS

[102-103]

8APPENDIX

[104-119]

9 BIBLIOGRAPHY [120-126]

INTRODUCTION

1.1 INTRODUCTION TO THE INDUSTRY

Hospitality Industry

Indian tourism and hospitality sector has reached new heights today. Travelers are taking new

interests in the country which leads to the upgrading of the hospitality sector. Even an increase

in business travel has driven the hospitality sector to serve their guests better. Visiting

foreigners has reached a record 3.92 million and consequently International tourism receipts

have also reached a height of US$ 5.7 billion. Hospitality Industry is closely linked with travel

and tourism industries. India is experiencing huge footfalls as a favorite vacation destination of

foreigners and natives and the hospitality industry is going into a tizzy working towards

improving itself. Fierce competition and fight to rank on the number one position is leading the

leaders of this industry to contemplate on ideas and innovate successful hospitality products

and services every day.

INDIA’S HOTEL INDUSTRY

It is experiencing an unprecedented boom, driven by increasing numbers of business and tourist arrivals.

Business and investments: Current situation of India’s hotels  

Some figures:

Hotel Imperial New Delhi: 99.57 % occupancy.

Hotel Trident Hilton, Gurgaon (suburban Delhi): 98.3 % occupancy. Indian hotels are

witnessing mind-blowing occupancy rates.

Increase in average room rent for the entire hotel industry over the last year: 35 %.

The boom has attracted several global players, ranging from Starwood and Marriott to

Four Seasons and Shangri-La. The largest hotel company in the world, French chain Accor,

has entered India and is now devising aggressive plans for expansion in the market. Several

others are racing to increase their presence in India, including the Marriott group.

Currently Marriott has over 1,000 rooms spread across four properties in Mumbai and

Goa.

The engine of growth

Tourist boom

The tourism traffic has been growing between 20-28 % every year for the last four years and

this rate of growth is expected to continue for the next few years.

The constant boom and the resultant demand-supply mismatch has led to sharp increases in

the average room rates and thus pushing up revenues of industry players (hotels, tour

operators, airlines, shipping lines, etc)

The tourism sector is expected to perform very well in future and the industry offers an

interesting investment opportunity for long-term investors.

Most of the five-star hotels are seeing more than 80 % occupancy and some of the lesser-

known five-star hotels are overbooked.

Incredible India

The Ministry of Tourism is pushing the great Indian story effectively with its subtle and

charming “Incredible India” campaign

“We have spent $5 million on this campaign since December 2002 and plan to keep it going,”

Amitabh Kant, the joint secretary at India’s Ministry of Tourism.

According to estimates, another 150,000 rooms will have to be added across the country in the

next five to seven years to be able to meet the increased demand.

At 6,762 rupees, Bangalore had the highest ARR across all categories in the 30 cities. New

Delhi was the second highest, registering an ARR of 5,498 rupees.

  The future growth 

Hospitality experts believe that the Indian hotel industry will witness higher than usual

growth in the coming peak season. The good times for the Indian hospitality industry are here

to stay, with top-end hotels experiencing high room occupancy rates even in the lean season.

“The lean season has been exceptionally good for us. Our room occupancy rate has

been around 89 per cent and we are looking at over 95 per cent occupancy for the period

September to December,” says Kapil Chopra, general manager, Trident Hilton, Gurgaon.

The non-luxury segment in particular has been perking up with more and more investors

spotting the demand supply imbalance, surge in domestic travel and growth in spending

among middle-class Indians.  

The Competition 

The world's leading hotel brands - joining the battle  

The country has been flooded by some of the world's leading hotel brands. New brands

such as Amanda, Satinwoods, Banana Tree, Hampton Inns, Scandium By Hilt and Mandarin

Oriental are planning to enter the Indian hospitality industry in joint ventures with domestic

hotel majors.  .

All other majors including Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton, Accor, Four Seasons etc are briskly

reinforcing their presence in India. 

The challenges to face 

The lack of adequate infrastructure development. The airports at the primary

gateway cities of Delhi and Mumbai have been privatized, and work has commenced on

modernization. New privately owned international airports are expected to be commissioned at

Hyderabad (2008) and Bangalore (2009), which will give a large boost to the economic growth

of these areas.

There is still need to improve air connectivity; rail and road connections as well as

general infrastructure like power and water.

The result of the industry's success. As competition increases, there is a definite

pressure on ARR and operating margins. The industry market will definitely shift from being

demand-driven to supply-driven and that the hotel companies will need to revisit their

strategies and, of course, their prices.

Some players are already preparing for the difficult times when the ARRs are expected

to fall by 30-40 percent in the next 3-4 years and then the distinguishing factor for the hotels

will be the offer in its entirety rather than just the price or the facilities that the hotels offer.

HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY IN INDIA

Hotel Industry in India has witnessed tremendous boom in recent years. Hotel Industry is

inextricably linked to the tourism industry and the growth in the Indian tourism industry has

fuelled the growth of Indian hotel industry. The thriving economy and increased business

opportunities in India have acted as a boon for Indian hotel industry. The arrival of low cost

airlines and the associated price wars have given domestic tourists a host of options. The

'Incredible India' destination campaign and the recently launched 'Atithi Devo Bhavah' (ADB)

campaign have also helped in the growth of domestic and international tourism and

consequently the hotel industry.

In recent years government has taken several steps to boost travel & tourism which have

benefited hotel industry in India. These include the abolishment of the inland air travel tax of

15%; reduction in excise duty on aviation turbine fuel to 8%; and removal of a number of

restrictions on outbound chartered flights, including those relating to frequency and size of

aircraft. The government's recent decision to treat convention centres as part of core

infrastructure, allowing the government to provide critical funding for the large capital

investment that may be required has also fuelled the demand for hotel rooms.

The opening up of the aviation industry in India has exciting opportunities for hotel industry as

it relies on airlines to transport 80% of international arrivals. The government's decision to

substantially upgrade 28 regional airports in smaller towns and privatization & expansion of

Delhi and Mumbai airport will improve the business prospects of hotel industry in India.

Substantial investments in tourism infrastructure are essential for Indian hotel industry to

achieve its potential.

Five-star hotels in metro cities allot same room, more than once a day to different guests,

receiving almost 24-hour rates from both guests against 6-8 hours usage. With demand-supply

disparity, hotel rates in India are likely to rise by 25% annually and occupancy by 80%, over

the next two years. This will affect the competitiveness of India as a cost-effective tourist

destination. To overcome, this shortage Indian hotel industry is adding about 60,000 quality

rooms, currently in different stages of planning and development, which should be ready by

2012. Hotel Industry in India is also set to get a fillip with Delhi hosting 2010 Commonwealth

Games. Government has approved 300 hotel projects, nearly half of which are in the luxury

range. The future scenario of Indian hotel industry looks extremely rosy. It is expected that the

budget and mid-market hotel segment will witness huge growth and expansion while the luxury

segment will continue to perform extremely well over the next few years.

Hospitality segment, just like many other segments in India is booming at an unprecedented

pace. India faces a huge challenge of being "under roomed" while the economy is growing

rapidly. This provides for a huge opportunity for hospitality industry. A lot of large real estate

developers are also investing into this business to bridge the demand-supply gap and leverage

the opportunity. A number of cities have blossomed with suburban "Silicon Valley" type

Special Economic Zones (SEZs). This is mostly driven due to strong growth in IT, BPO

segments, increase in foreign travelers, emphasized focus on tourism by government,

affordable airlines fares, etc. Several other factors such as Commonwealth Games in Delhi are

fueling the need further. The middle class is becoming more prosperous and native Indian

tourist travel is growing rapidly, particularly in places such as Goa, Kerala and Rajasthan.

'Hotels in India' has supply of 110,000 rooms. According to the tourism ministry, 4.4 million

tourists visited India last year and at current trend, demand will soar to 10 million in 2010 – to

accommodate 350 million domestic travelers. 'Hotels in India' has a shortage of 150,000 rooms

fueling hotel room rates across India. With tremendous pull of opportunity, India is a

destination for hotel chains looking for growth. The World Travel and Tourism Council, India,

data says, India ranks 18th in business travel and will be among the top 5 in this decade.

Sources estimate, demand is going to exceed supply by at least 100% over the next 2 years.

Five-star hotels in metro cities allot same room, more than once a day to different guests,

receiving almost 24-hour rates from both guests against 6-8 hours usage. With demand-supply

disparity, 'Hotel India' room rates are most likely to rise 25% annually and occupancy to rise by

80%, over the next two years. 'Hotel Industry in India' is eroding its competitiveness as a cost

effective destination.

However, the rating on the 'Indian Hotels' is bullish. 'India Hotel Industry' is adding about

60,000 quality rooms, currently in different stages of planning and development and should be

ready by 2012. MNC Hotel Industry giants are flocking India and forging Joint Ventures to earn

their share of pie in the race. Government has approved 300 hotel projects, nearly half of

which are in the luxury range. Sources said, the manpower requirements of the hotel industry

will increase from 7 million in 2002 to 15 million by 2010. With the USD 23 billion software

services sector pushing the Indian economy skywards, more and more IT professionals are

flocking to Indian metro cities.

'Hotel Industry in India' is set to grow at 15% a year. This figure will skyrocket in 2010, when

Delhi hosts the Commonwealth Games. Already, more than 50 international budget hotel

chains are moving into India to stake their turf. Therefore, with opportunities galore the future

'Scenario of Indian Hotel Industry' looks rosy.

Background for Study on Tourism in Udaipur

Tourism has been highly touted as a route to the Development of a city or environment. It

professes to bring much-needed revenue and employment to the inhabitants of the place,

while simultaneously claiming to preserve its cultural, historical, or natural ‘attractions’. These

arguments are currently being used by the Rajasthan Government in its mission to expand

tourism in the state (an estimated expenditure of nearly Rs.1,200 crore). Because Udaipur

and its surrounding villages are targets within this development plan, it is relevant and pressing

to consider the influence these new policies/plans will have on the people of Udaipur, their

economy, environment, culture and social relationships.

The following background paper seeks to bring out critical points from the Rajiv Gandhi

Tourism Development Mission for Rajasthan (the most current proposal on tourism

development in Rajasthan), as well as to highlight pertinent information about tourism. This

article can be used as a starting point, from which to generate critical and creative ideas for the

further exploration of tourism.

The Plans of the Rajasthan Government

Annexure B in the Tourism Development Mission lists eight areas for which the growth of

tourism in Rajasthan is important:

1.      Employment Generation

2.      Poverty Alleviation

3.      Empowerment of Women

4.      Survival of Rural Artists

5.      Upliftment of Rural Artists

6.      Improvement in Urban and Rural Infrastructure

7.      Better Image, Quality of Life & Attitude of People

8.      Revival of Traditions and Heritage Conservation & Management

     

These points form the comprehensive plan to uplift and empower the people of Rajasthan

through an economy based in tourism – the largest growing industry in the world. This plan

seeks to include urban and rural areas, as well as women, in increasing incomes, improving

infrastructure, and encouraging full-spectrum participation.

 

From this list, we can roughly draw four categories by which to understand tourism:

a) Tourism as an economic industry;

b) The environmental implications of tourism;

c) The effects of tourism on social relationships;

d) The impact of tourism on culture, arts and language.

These categories are not mutually exclusive; they overlap and interact in a variety of ways.

However, for the purpose of an initial analysis, we will try to break down the discussion into

each category, in order to understand the goals, relevance and potential implications of each.

Tourism as an Economic Industry

In putting forth the goals of employment generation and poverty alleviation, the Rajasthan

Government is effectively viewing tourism as an economic industry. The hope is that tourism

will provide more jobs in the state, thereby distributing wealth and reducing poverty. Corporate

incentives — such as the levying of industrial electricity rates, exemptions and reduction of

taxes, interest subsidies, free land appropriation for site development, etc. — are being

suggested to create a competitive and attractive market for growth. By thus securing

corporate involvement, World Bank loans, and other international and national bank loans, the

Government is embracing the potential for an advanced model of tourism development —one

which will enhance the flow of money into the economy and uplift the population through new

labor and service market opportunities and incentives.

 

In this regard, the Tourism Development Mission seeks to create new sectors of tourism and

advance infrastructure, services and amenities. Desert tourism, adventure tourism, pilgrimage

tourism, weekend tourism, road-side tourism, golf tourism, desert skiing, scooter adventures,

water sports, film shooting, etc., are being developed. By offering unique and novel tourism

options and opportunities, the Mission anticipates an increase in the number of tourists

frequenting Rajasthan, a greater draw from corporate interests, and a subsequent revenue

increase of nearly ten-fold by the year 2010. The projected cost for new tourism development

totals approximately Rs.460 crore. Alongside these new sectors, core infrastructure, in the

form of highways, roads, airports, bridges, and rail connectivity, is slated for growth and

improvement. The projected cost for infrastructure improvements and additions is Rs.500

crore.

 

By investing so much money into a plan such as this, the Government is ignoring a number of

economic factors. First, while new opportunities in labor and service may energize some parts

of the economy, other economic niches will be depreciated or compromised entirely in this

process. For example, because the Government has the ability to “freely allot” rural, arable

land for development purposes, small farmers stand to lose their land and therefore, their

entire means of self-sufficiency and livelihood. The same is the case for crafts that serve no

use in the tourist trade, such as home ceramics (which are often too bulky for tourists to

transport). Second, for a community/city dramatically dependent on tourism, economic

sustainability is virtually impossible. Tourism is inherently unstable; unforeseen and

uncontrollable outside forces, such as natural disasters, political changes, fluctuations in the

global economy, etc., all affect the decisions of tourists.

The recent flurry of cancellations of bookings by tour groups and individuals, after the terrorist

attack on September 11 in the United States, exemplifies such instability. Moreover, tourism is

a seasonal event – what happens to the economy and the community during the off-season?

The Environmental Implications of Tourism

The Tourism Development Mission describes ‘sustainable tourism’ as “development which

meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet

their own needs.” This definition originally was used to describe ‘sustainable development’.

Coined in the late 1980’s, it has become an ambiguous, yet ubiquitous, catchphrase. It is

meant to prevent ecological and social damage; yet it has not seemed to hinder Development

business as usual. For example, most of the projects outlined in the Mission require a large

number of ecological resources to materialize. Then, to sustain these tourism development

projects, resources must be continuously accumulated and utilized.

 

In Rajasthan, perhaps the scarcest of all resources is (and has been historically) water. Within

the past 30 years in Udaipur, there have been a number of large droughts, including the one

we are currently facing. The decline of water tables is perhaps most obvious when viewing the

surrounding lakes and dry mountains. In response to this concern (perhaps in anticipation of

it), the Mission has drafted a list of ways it plans to prevent drought in Rajasthan through

tourism development.

For “drought proofing” Rajasthan, it suggests:

1.      Marketing of Dairy and Animal Husbandry Products

2.      Revival of Traditional Sources of Drinking Water

3.      Market Synergy with Khadi Sector

4.      Employment Generation During the Entire Year

5.      Synergy with Canal Systems

6.      Providing Ready Marketing Opportunities for Rural Artisans

7.      Revival of Traditional Building Art

8.      Revival of Traditional Arts and Crafts

 

It seems, therefore, that the Government sees the general opportunities created through

tourism markets and the use of varied water sources as the catalyst for drought alleviation in

Rajasthan. Without elaboration, however, such intentions for “drought proofing” are

questionable. In fact, this gap in the Mission, coupled with specific project plans, directly

contradicts such goals. For example, “Golf Tourism” is planned for Udaipur, for a projected

cost of Rs.35 crore. But golf courses take up huge tracts of land that are often expropriated

from farmers or villages. Moreover, they use an exorbitant amount of water in construction and

maintenance, and are a major contributor of pesticides, herbicides and pollution to the area’s

natural environment, particularly to the water supply). In addition, existing tourist amenities

require excessive amounts of water. A case in point can be seen in Phuket, Thailand. As

Deborah McLaren (1998) reports, “A single village only needs one half cubic meter of fresh

water per day. This amount is not enough for one guest staying in a hotel… The fresh water

used by ten big hotels in Phuket – about 100,000 cubic meters per day – equals the water use

by the whole Phuket population.”

 

The last 50 years of Udaipur’s environmental history have not been very good. We have seen

how industries (marble mining, zinc mining, timber, pesticide production) have taken their toll

on the area’s natural resources. As another industry, will the demands and effects of tourism

be similarly unsustainable and destructive?

 

The Effects of Tourism on Social Relationships

What happens to a society dependent on tourists for employment and revenue? While the

overarching goals of tourism development focus on the positive upliftment of people through

employment and incoming revenue, both in urban and rural areas, achieving such goals is not

so simple. Where does the government get the money to fund such elaborate projects?

Where specifically is tourist revenue going? How does the community change to compete for

incoming money? What are the results of these changes?

 

From world trends, and from quotes inside the Mission, we can assume that primary funding

for Rajasthan’s tourism development is coming from the World Bank. Typically, much of the

money generated through such development projects immediately vanishes, as the state

repays its debts (or the interest on them). In Rethinking Tourism and Ecotravel (1998),

Deborah McLaren explains how tourist income is typically distributed in two categories: a) what

leaves the community and b) what remains in it. Most of the money goes to overseas

investors or transnational corporations, in the form of expenditures for development, promotion

and transportation, and as foreign import costs of food, energy, technology, building materials,

communication systems, manufactured goods, mid- and upper-level management, etc. Within

the community, income is divided between profits to local owners, wages to employers, food,

locally supplied items/souvenirs and maintenance expenditures. Because the percentage of

revenue secured by the community is low, it is in high demand.

 

So in efforts to procure a share of tourists’ pocketbooks, competition becomes a major societal

pressure. This negatively affects the relationships in communities and thus the functioning and

of the community. In other Indian communities, such as in Goa and Kerala, tourism has also

disrupted/perverted social practices, such as sacred rituals and agricultural cycles. It has also

led to the growth of social ills, like prostitution, AIDS, crime and drugs.

 

The Impact of Tourism on Culture, Arts, and Language

“…when we travel, we buy a product, a product that includes people. Travel offers an exciting

chance (for those who can afford it) to buy or become, if only for a little while, a part of another

culture — Deborah McLaren

Tourism in Udaipur, as in the whole of Rajasthan, largely highlights its traditional crafts and

cultural and historical monuments. By creating more access to rural areas and artisans, the

government sees two-fold benefits. One, tourists have increased interest in rural regions; and

two, rural economies are uplifted as artisans and other members of the community have the

ability to capitalize on their traditional skills (with possibilities even for world travel, the Mission

suggests). Further, by making historical and cultural sites attractive for corporate investment,

more funds can enter the state. For example, the Mission suggests an ‘Adopt-a- Monument

Scheme’ for corporate and institutional donors. It also seeks to lease out premier heritage

sites to internationally acclaimed hotel chains. By functioning on a competitive bid system, the

Government hopes to bring in a hefty sum of money, while simultaneously attracting big

names to develop the heritage and culture of Rajasthan.

 

There are several questions to be asked here. First, can rural life serve as a tourist attraction?

By turning traditional ways of living and the production of crafts into tourism products, people

compromise their cultures and common functions of their lives. The ‘products’ that sell best

become the focus of work and life. This not only distorts traditional meanings and uses, but it

also contributes to the disappearance of those crafts that do not sell. In addition to crafts,

there is concern that innovations and knowledges are being pirated and patented as

“intellectual property.” Tourists enter forests, farmlands and sacred places and walk away with

local plant or wildlife, healing treatments, grains, spices, etc. This ‘bio-piracy’ results not only

in economic loss, but also in the loss of living systems.

 

In considering the cultural and historical impacts of tourism in Udaipur, the major touristed sites

in the Mission include Jag Niwas, City Palace and Saheliyon-ki-Bari. If these sites are turned

solely into sources for corporate income generation (they are not far from there), how will they

lose meaning for the community? A cultural or historical site represents different qualities and

values to a community – whether through use, religious significance, location, etc. When the

‘ownership’ of such a site shifts to a single party for economic benefit, the community

associations to that site – largely cultural – also change. This may be reflected in a loss of

perceived responsibility to a site, loss of traditional access and use, and resentment when

cultural or historical significance is perverted.

This background note begins to give a picture of the pressures Udaipur will face as the Rajiv

Gandhi Tourism Development Mission comes into action. The points presented here are the

seeds to a larger discussion about the complexity of the situation in Udaipur today; they

represent a form of development to be discussed on a larger, national and global level as well.

1.2 INTRODUCTION TO THE ORGANIZATION

1. THE OBEROI UDAIVILAS

The Oberoi Group, founded in 1934, owns or manages 33 hotels and luxury cruisers in five

countries under the ‘Oberoi Hotels & Resorts’ and ‘Trident’ brands. The Group is also engaged

in flight catering, airport restaurants, travel and tour services, car rentals, project management

and corporate air charters.

Oberoi Hotels & Resorts are synonymous the world over for providing the right blend of

service, luxury and quiet efficiency. Internationally recognized for all-round excellence and

unparalleled levels of service, Oberoi Hotels & Resorts have received innumerable awards and

accolades. A distinctive feature of The Group’s hotels is their highly motivated and well trained

staff that provides the kind of attentive, personalized and warm service that is rare today. The

Group’s new luxury hotels have established a reputation for redefining the paradigm of luxury

and excellence in service amongst leisure hotels around the world.

Udaipur, in the heart of Rajasthan, is a city of majestic palaces and beautiful lakes. Here,

adorning the banks of Lake Pichola and standing witness to the historic City Palace. The

Oberoi Udaivilas captures all the romance and splendor of a royal era.

The grand setting combined with palatial architecture and a beautiful spa offers an experience

created exclusively for those who know there is nothing like too much luxury.

2. HRH GROUP OF HOTELS

Our Vision

The genesis of the HRH Group of Hotels is a tribute to the vision of Bhagwat Singh Mewar, the

75th Maharana of Udaipur.

In post-Independent India of the 1950s, Maharana Bhagwat Singh was the first Indian royal to

have realised the potential of tourism to preserve the rich heritage of Rajasthan and Udaipur.

He took a pioneering decision to convert the Jag Niwas into the super deluxe Lake Palace

Hotel.

The grand opening of the Lake Palace Hotel in 1963 marked a new era in heritage tourism in

India. It was hailed all over the world as probably the finest luxury resort, distinguished by

uniquely Indian hospitality and service standards.

The 1980's witnessed a period of further growth and consolidation. The HRH Group of Hotels

assumed its present corporate form under the chairmanship of Shri Arvind Singh Mewar, the

76th Maharana of Udaipur, and a professional hotelier. The HRH Group of Hotels is today one

of the finest chains of heritage hotels across Rajasthan, with each unique heritage property

being meticulously preserved, restored and developed.

2.1 SHIV NIWAS PALACE

Shiv Niwas Palace, an erstwhile royal residence is a majestic crescent shaped building located

on the southern end of the City Palace Complex. The Shiv Niwas Palace Hotel provides

spectacular views of Lake Pichola and the white city of Udaipur adjacent to it. The range of

regal accommodation includes Imperial, Royal, Historic and Terrace Suites as well as

spectacular Deluxe Rooms, which are ultimate in luxury.

Enjoy an afternoon at the poolside in the warmth of the ever-present sun or else enjoy the

wonderful view over the Lake Pichola, Lake Palace and Jagmandir from the balcony of your

suite in all serenity. With all these comforts, peace and calm you are just a minute’s walk away

from the City Palace Museum and the Old City, the prime tourist attraction of Udaipur.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

A crescent adorning the southern end of the Palace complex, the Shiv Niwas Palace Hotel

Udaipur was originally Maharana Fateh Singhji's residence. The rooms around this awe-

inspiring courtyard were used as a place for entertaining personal guests. Shiv Niwas Palace

Hotel Udaipur was the vision of the His Late Highness Maharana Bhagwat Singhji Mewar,

which led to its conversion into a luxury hotel. Shiv Niwas Palace Hotel Udaipur is now

categorized as a Grand Heritage Palace as it has been restored to its original pristine glory.

Elegantly appointed suites with private terraces, choice Indian and continental fare, a friendly

pool-deck, a treasure-trove of souvenirs and precious gems, a Scottish Band, this former royal

guest house has all this and more to make your visit to Shiv Niwas Palace Hotel Udaipur

memorable.

2.2 Garden Hotel, Udaipur

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Away from the City Palace Complex is the serene Garden Hotel; a circular building that has

been a distinguished landmark for the city of Udaipur for it houses the renowned Vintage &

Classic Car Collection. Garden Hotel, a Royal Retreat of the HRH Group of Hotels, is located

across the edge of Gulab Bagh, a tree lined landscaped garden spread across acres of

greenery.

Today, Garden Hotel offers comfortable rooms for visitors wishing to explore Udaipur and the

City Palace Complex. The rooms are well-appointed, offering satellite television and telecom

facilities to keep them connected with their world. Regal Dining Experiences at Garden Hotel

are noteworthy: the Top Terrace on the circular building is ideal for casual buffets and

banquets while the Courtyard is open for special functions and can accommodate even a

thousand guests. The Vintage Car Crescent is a special venue for Regal Dining as it utilizes

the semi-circular space of the Car Collection for formal banquets and sit down dinners.

Garden Hotel has been a popular stopover for thousands of Udaipur visitors. Over the years,

the Garden Hotel Restaurant has been famous for serving authentic ethnic cuisine. The

serenity of the location, grace and warmth of the staff-members make for a memorable and

comfortable stay at the Garden Hotel.

3.

We enhance your experience of a FIVE STAR luxury stay at INDER RESIDENCY, since

the inception, HOTEL INDER RESIDENCY has been the name in the city, synonymous

with genuine, personal and homely hospitality. Efficient, Sincere & devoted staff is

always committed to fulfill all your needs and anticipation. INDER RESIDENCY believes

in quality with courtesy.

 Location  

In the heart of the city, cool and calm surroundings venue of the hotel is the exclusive privilege

of the hotel. Our prime location, between the two main busy and fully developed commercial

roads of Ahmedabad i.e. Ashram Roads & C.G Roads. Also very near to the expanding

Ahmedabad, and other business areas. This helps avoiding traffic problems and unnecessary

wastage of time. More easy accessibility to the Railway Station and Airport makes the hotel

more convenient and therefore, more sought after place especially for the esteemed business

class guest and visitors.

4. City Palace hote l

Overlooking Lake Pichola, the City Palace is mesmerizing in marble and granite. Marvel at its

stunning architecture in several structures that has been symmetrically added over the years

by the Maharanas.

5. Hotel Rajdarshan is a 3 star property located very centrally within the ancient city wall of

the historic city of Mewar, on the banks of the Lake Swaroop Sagar, giving breath taking view

of the Lake, Aravali ranges, monsoon palace on one side and glimpses of the City Palace &

the Old city from the other side. The distance from the Airport is 24kms, Railway Station

04Kms, Bus Stand 3Kms and the main shopping area 1.5kms.

 Hotel is centrally air-conditioned offering 52 well appointed guest rooms with modern

amenities, tastefully decorated lobby, restaurant, bar, conference halls, shopping arcade, a

tropical garden, and swimming pool with personalized service giving guests, "A promise of a

memorable stay."

1.3 CONCEPT

EMPLOYEE EMPOWERMENT

To empower means to enable, to allow or to permit, and can be conceived as both self-initiated

and initiated by others. Empowerment is the process of enabling employees to set their own

work-related goals, make decisions and solve problems with in their spheres of responsibility

and authority. An important part of empowerment is the definition of spheres of responsibility

and authority by management.

Empowerment allows people, individually and in groups, to use their talents and knowledge to

make decisions that affect their work. People are held accountable for the results produced by

others, whose formal role gives them the right to command but who lack informal influence,

access to resources, outside status, sponsorship, or mobility prospects, are rendered

powerless in the organization.

Empowerment is nor a programme. It is a culture change. Empowerment is the process of

enabling or authorizing an individual to think, behave, and take action, and control work and

decision-making in autonomous ways. It is the state of feeling self-empowered to take control

of one’s own destiny.

Empowerment has become necessary due to the following reasons:

1. Time to respond is much shorter today.

2. First line employees must make many decisions.

3. There is great-untapped potential.

4. Employees feel much more control over their lives.

5. Empowered people do not feel like victims.

Empowerment is the process coming to feel and behave as if one is in power (autonomy and

control) and to feel as if he/she owned the firm. Empowerment is the process of sharing power

with employees. Employee Empowerment predominantly about encouraging front- line staff to

solve customer problems on the spot, without constant recourse to management approval.

Employee Empowerment refers to management strategies for sharing decision- making power.

Empowerment is giving subordinates the resources, both psychological and technical, to

discover the varieties of power they themselves have and/ or accumulated, therefore which

they can use on another’s behalf.

Empowerment is a process of risk taking and personal growth; it is the creation of work

environment, which allows each individual to work his highest capacity. An empowered

workplace is a safe climate for employees to work together with freedom to take initiative, to

create, to solve problems, and to assume the responsibility of completing the task.

Empowerment refers to processes that giving employees the authority to decide and act on

their own initiatives, so that the added responsibility and authority is moved to the lowest

possible in the organization. It allows the employees to assume both managerial and staff

responsibilities.

For employee empowerment to work successfully, the management team must be truly

committed to allowing employees to make decisions. They may wish to define the scope of

decisions made. Building decision-making teams is often one of the models used in employee

empowerment, because it allows for managers and workers to contribute ideas toward

directing the company.

Employee empowerment is one of those terms that everyone thinks they understand, but few

really do.  Ask a dozen different people and you'll get a dozen different answers to the

question, "What is employee empowerment?".  In fact, research a dozen organizational

theorists and you'll get as many answers to the same question. Some writers indicate that

empowerment consists of sharing power and authority.  Others say that empowerment occurs

when the organization's processes are set-up to allow for it.  If you keep in mind the secondary

dictionary definition of "to give faculties or abilities to:  enable" (Grove, 1971, p.744), However,

it has been shown that employee empowerment results in increased employee satisfaction,

increased productivity, and increased customer satisfaction. "Aren't there some strong

objections to the implementation of an empowerment program which must be overcome if we

are to receive these benefits?" 

Empowerment, if it is to be implemented effectively, calls for a culture change for the typical

organization.  Leaders must learn to be visionaries who can provide an idea to which

employees will want to dedicate themselves.  Supervisors must change their ways of

supervising and learn to be coaches and mentors.  All members of the organization must

dedicate themselves to sharing information and to training.  Each of these issues will be

addressed in turn.

While there are few theorists who have delved very deeply into what makes up empowerment,

what they have mined is rich.  There are more researchers who have attempted to provide a

framework for what they have observed; their ideas which have merit will be addressed.

Implementation of empowerment programs seems to be the biggest challenge organizations

face.  The popular press often writes about "failed" empowerment efforts.  However, it is also

evident that the implementation often takes years, especially if the organization has a

bureaucratic culture.  It also seems that empowerment implementation efforts are often

haphazard.

Employee empowerment is a two sided coin. For employees to be empowered the

management leadership must want and believe that employee empowerment makes good

business sense and employees must act.  Let us be clear about one thing immediately,

employee empowerment does not mean that management no longer has the responsibility to

lead the organization and is not responsible for performance. If anything the opposite is true.

Stronger leadership and accountability is demanded in an organization that seeks to empower

employees. This starts with the executive leadership, through all management levels and

includes front line supervisors.  It is only when the entire organization is willing to work as a

team that the real benefits of employee empowerment are realized.

For an organization to practice and foster employee empowerment the management must trust

and communicate with employees. Employee communication is one of the strongest signs of

employee empowerment. Honest and repeated communication from elements of the strategic

plan, key performance indicators, financial performance, down to daily decision making.

If an organization has not been actively cultivating employee empowerment, it may take

considerable time and effort before employees start to respond. Often the first efforts and

communications are met with employee derision and mockery. Those who are only interested

in trying the latest management fad will give up when met with this response. A good rule of

thumb for communications to employees is to enumerate what management considers

adequate and then multiple by a factor of ten. When considering employee understanding and

acceptance of decisions consider how long it takes for the management team to discuss and

then make a decision. Allow several multiples of this time for employees to think about the

issue.

For management wanting employee empowerment the evidence will not come across the

board with wide spread acceptance. A small number will accept the invitation to become more

involved, say 3-5 per cent. The rest will be watching every move to see what happens. Every

communication, decision and action by management will be viewed as either supporting a

move to employee empowerment or not. Probably nothing demonstrates the commitment or

lack of commitment to employee empowerment more than promotions and selection for

leadership positions. Employees know those that attempt to “shine up while dumping down”.

For an organization to enjoy the returns from employee empowerment the leadership must

diligently work to create the work environment where it is obvious to all that employee

empowerment is desired, wanted and cultivated. Management’s responsibility is to create the

environment for employee empowerment.

When organizational leadership has started to take actions to encourage employee

empowerment it is then up to the employees to decided if they wish to take advantage of the

opportunity or not. It is not unusual for only a small minority to accept the challenge initially.

Also it is very likely that some fraction will never respond. It is the large middle group that must

be convinced to practice employee empowerment.

It is our conviction that most organizations have exactly the level of employee empowerment

the management wants. This is demonstrated by the amount of communications, level of

training provided employees, opportunities for personal growth, the solicitation and

implementation of ideas, the recognition and reward system, promotion and advancement

criteria, and uncountable little signals from management that demonstrate whether employees

are valued or not.

When Six Sigma is deployed in an organization employees have numerous opportunities to

demonstrate that they are empowered. Unless there is employee motivation to accept and act

on the opportunities little will change.

Employee empowerment is evidenced by working with a six sigma project team to understand

the changes coming out of the project. Being a participant using improvements found by

others is a form of empowerment.

Employee can demonstrate empowerment by suggesting areas or processes that might be

candidates for a six sigma project. Part of employee empowerment is the recognition by

management that often people who most know of pressing needs for improvement are those

who have to work in the process.

Employee empowerment can take the form of being asked to bring expert knowledge to six

sigma projects. Even if not a full time member of the project team the fact that competence and

first hand experience are valued and an employee is willing to help demonstrates a level of

empowerment.

The employee can volunteer to serve on a project team as a Green Belt. This usually means

that the employee has some subject matter expertise in the process scoped for a project. By

completing the Green Belt training the employees will learn the Fundamental Improvement

tools and will learn how to use the Define Measure Analyze Improve and Control steps as part

of problem solving. With this additional skill sets the empowerment of the employee is

increased, they are able to work more effectively and efficiently in solving problems and

providing potential solutions.

Employees can make it know that they would like to become Black Belts. This form of

employee empowerment assumes that the employee has the necessary skills and ability to

complete the Black Belt training. Usually this means a college level education with comfort in

mathematics and if not some statistical understanding a willingness to learn.

One of the strongest signs from employees is when they take the lead to advance their skills

and knowledge with education and training either provided by the organization or out side the

organization.

Management has the obligation to create the environment that fosters employee

empowerment, employees have the duty to accept the opportunity and demonstrate they are

willing and capable.

Considering the nature of service delivery and particularly intangible-dominant services,

employee empowerment becomes a very important issue to organizations producing services.

In that, the customers and the employees are, engaged simultaneously in the production of the

service. This inseparability is what is considered by the organization in choosing how best to

serve its customers, either by the traditional method or through the empowerment approach.

The inability of the management to control the service encounter makes the employees

responsible for the quality of service delivered to the customers. In order for the management

to trust that the employees are successful in dealing with their customers, the management

has to give the employees the authority and necessary support to succeed at it, which is

referred to as employee empowerment. The practice of which can directly affect the quality of

services delivered, and customer satisfaction.

PRE-REQUISITES FOR EMPLOYEE EMPOWERMENT

Employee empowerment provides people the responsibility and authority to make decisions.

Empowerment frequently results in greater commitment and cooperation; creative ideas and

solutions; and greater ownership from employees.

Creating an empowered workforce is a great to increase organizational effectiveness and

success. Empowerment works they are given the necessary recourses, property trained and

managed. Then only they will be able to successfully perform and make effective decisions.

Employee empowerment requires the following pre –requisites:

1. INVOLVEMENT: Employees feel more committed to the organization when they are

involved in the decision making process.

2. QUICK DECISION-MAKING:

Employees sometimes need on the spot decisions for the benefit of the organization.

Employees work say in customer service need to be able to quickly respond to customer’s

need and problems without having constantly go up the chain of command.

3. SOLVING COMPLEX PROBLEMS:

Employees directly involved with a problem can better determine the optimal solution. For

example, a work group can figure out how to re-engineer its work process far better than

employees/managers that do not directly work on the process/project.

TYPES OF EMPOWERMENT

The types of empowerment are depicted below:

Fig a: TYPES OF EMPOWERMENT

STRUCTURED EMPOWERMENT:

It includes close control, formal; sets out clear boundaries; clear rules passed on through

training.

FLEXIBLE EMPOWERMENT:

It includes certain boundaries set; expecting employees to use their experience/common

sense to make decision; guidelines rather than rules.

Empowerment Continuum

Empowerment efforts have gained widespread attention for their ability to make organizations

more efficient and productive. A skill is an ability to translate knowledge into action that results

in a desired performance. There are three categories of skill viz. – technical skill, human skill

and conceptual skill. By giving ‘power’ it gives responsibility to employees without extra reward

and organizations get a cost saving from de-layering management.

The empowerment continuum is depicted below:

Few (job expansion) Employees many (job expansion)

Skill required

Fig b: Empowerment Continuum

Self Directed TeamsResponsible for decision process and strategy

Quality CirclesParticipatory Decision making

Cross Functional TeamsMake decision

Suggestion schemeGive input to decision process

Job Enlargement and EnrichmentNo decision making power

Degree of empowerment

The Process of empowerment

Empowerment is probably the totality of the following or similar capabilities:-

Having decision-making power of one's own

Having access to information and resources for taking proper decision

Having a range of options from which you can make choices (not just yes/no, either/or.)

Ability to exercise assertiveness in collective decision making

Having positive thinking on the ability to make change.

Ability to learn skills for improving one's personal or group power.

Ability to change others’ perceptions by democratic means.

Involving in the growth process and changes that is never ending and self-initiated.

Increasing one's positive self-image and overcoming stigma.

Increasing one's ability in discreet thinking to sort out right and wrong.

What are some of the common myths about empowerment?

• Everybody’s doing it.

• It’s easy.

• Every manager wants empowered employees.

• Every employee wants to be empowered.

• All the manager needs to do is leave the empowered employees alone.

Guidelines for effective employee empowerment

• Select the right managers.

• Choose the right employees.

• Provide training.

• Offer guidance.

• Hold everyone accountable.

• Build trust.

• Focus on relationships.

• Stress organizational values.

• Transform mistakes into opportunities.

• Reward and recognize.

• Share authority instead of giving it up.

• Encourage dissent.

• Give it time.

• Accept increased turnover.

• Share information.

• Realize that empowerment has its limitations.

• Watch for mixed messages.

• Face your own ambivalence

• Involve employees in decision-making.

• Be prepared for increased variation.

Benefit of empowerment

The major benefits are employee empowerments are as under:

1. Having an employee empowerment effort will help an organization by improving individual self-

esteem, self-efficacy, and other behaviors. The investment in the workforce will yield direct

cost saving for the organization- as well as improved morale of employees.

2. Employee empowerment helps in getting individuals to be more self-reliant. However, the

critical difference is the ability of this process to enable employees to take control of their

responsibilities, better utilizes exiting resources and makes wiser decisions.

Barriers to empowerment

Empowerment can fail for any one of several reasons:

* The manager's fear of losing power.

* Pressure from the manager's boss to be on top of all details.

* Rationalization that employees are not ready.

* Fear of losing control reduces empowerment.

* The feeling that "Only I can make the right decisions".

* Fear of having nothing to do...being redundant or having no purpose.

* Fear of losing face or status.

* Not accepting that subordinates are more knowledgeable or better placed to make

some decisions.

* Lack of support from the organization's culture - demands for more centralized

decision making.

* Preaching the value of making mistakes while still punishing them.

* Not providing clear authority or boundaries.

Top 10 Principles of Employee   Empowerment

The Credo of an Empowering Manager

These are the ten most important principles for managing people in a way that reinforces

employee empowerment, accomplishment, and contribution. These management actions

enable both the people who work with you and the people who report to you to soar.

1. Demonstrate You Value People

Your regard for people shines through in all of your actions and words. Your facial expression,

your body language, and your words express what you are thinking about the people who

report to you. Your goal is to demonstrate your appreciation for each person's unique value.

No matter how an employee is performing on their current task, your value for the employee as

a human being should never falter and always be visible.

2. Share Leadership Vision

Help people feel that they are part of something bigger than themselves and their individual job.

Do this by making sure they know and have access to the organization's overall mission,

vision, and strategic plans.

3. Share Goals and Direction

Share the most important goals and direction for your group. Where possible, either make

progress on goals measurable and observable, or ascertain that you have shared your picture

of a positive outcome with the people responsible for accomplishing the results.

4. Trust People

Trust the intentions of people to do the right thing, make the right decision, and make choices

that, while maybe not exactly what you would decide, still work.

5. Provide Information for Decision Making

Make certain that you have given people, or made sure that they have access to, all of the

information they need to make thoughtful decisions.

6. Delegate Authority and Impact Opportunities, Not Just More Work

Don’t just delegates the drudge work; delegate some of the fun stuff, too. You know, delegate

the important meetings, the committee memberships that influence product development and

decision making, and the projects that people and customers notice. The employee will grow

and develop new skills. Your plate will be less full so you can concentrate on contribution. Your

reporting staff will gratefully shine - and so will you.

7. Provide Frequent Feedback

Provide frequent feedback so that people know how they are doing. Sometimes, the purpose

of feedback is reward and recognition. People deserve your constructive feedback, too, so

they can continue to develop their knowledge and skills.

8. Solve Problems: Don't Pinpoint Problem People

When a problem occurs, ask what is wrong with the work system that caused the people to fail,

not what is wrong with the people. Worst case response to problems? Seek to identify and

punish the guilty. (Thank you, Dr. Deming.)

9. Listen to Learn and Ask Questions to Provide Guidance

Provide a space in which people will communicate by listening to them and asking them

questions. Guide by asking questions, not by telling grown up people what to do. People

generally know the right answers if they have the opportunity to produce them.

10. Help Employees Feel Rewarded and Recognized for Empowered Behavior

When employees feel under-compensated, under-titled for the responsibilities they take on,

under-noticed, under-praised, and under-appreciated, don’t expect results from employee

empowerment.

Empowering Employees to Get Results

Step 1: --Decentralizing Decision making Power

Step 2: --Hold All Employees Accountable for Results

Step 3: --Giving the Employees Tools they need to do Their--Jobs

Step 4: --Enhancing the Quality of Work life

Step 6: Exerting Leadership

Step 1: --Decentralizing Decision making Power

To people working in any large organization--public or private--"headquarters" can be a

dreaded word. It's where cumbersome rules and regulations are created and good ideas are

buried. Headquarters never understands problems, never listens to employees. Yet everyone

knows the truth: Management too often is happily unaware of what occurs at the front desk or

in the field. In fact, it's the people who work closest to problems who know the most about

solving them.

Since 1990, disability benefit claims have risen 40 percent, keeping folks in the Atlanta office

busy. So workers created a reinvention team. They quickly realized that if they asked

customers to bring along medical records when filing claims, workers could reduce the time

they spent contacting doctors and requesting the records. That idea alone saved 60 days on

the average claim. Even better, it saved taxpayers $351,000 in 1993, and will save half a

million dollars in 1994. The same workers also found a better, cheaper way to process

disability claims in cases reviewed by administrative law judges. Instead of asking judges to

send them written decisions, they created a system for judges to send decisions electronically.

It's quicker, and it eliminates paperwork, too.

This example drives the point home: Too many rules have created too many layers of

supervisors and controllers who, however well-intentioned, wind up "managing" simple tasks

into complex processes. They waste workers' time and squander the taxpayers' money.

Decentralizing the power to make decisions will energize government to do everything smarter,

better, faster, and cheaper--if only because there will be more hands and heads on the task at

the same time. Standard computers with central processors solve problems in sequence: One

by one, each element of information travels back and forth from the machine's central

processor. It's like running six errands on Saturday, but going home between each stop. Even

at the speed of light, that takes time. In massively parallel computers, hundreds of smaller

processors solve different elements of the same problem simultaneously. It's the equivalent of

a team of six people each deciding to take on one of the Saturday errands.

Working toward a quality government means reducing the power of headquarters viz. field

operations. As our reinvented government begins to liberate agencies from over-regulation, we

no longer will need 280,000 separate supervisory staff and 420,000 "systems control" staff to

support them. Instead, we will encourage more of our 2.1 million federal employees to become

managers of their own work. Some employees may view such pruning as threatening--to their

jobs or their chances for promotion. But our goal is to make jobs meaningful and challenging.

Removing a layer of oversight that adds no value to customers does more than save money: It

demonstrates trust in our workers. It offers employees in dead-end or deadly dull jobs a

chance to use all their abilities. As private companies have found, the key to improving service

while redeploying staff and resources is thinking about the organization's staffing and

operating needs from the perspective of customer needs.

Other decentralization and delivering plans are in the works. After a successful pilot program in

11 field service sites, the Department of Veterans Affairs is recommending an agency wide

effort. Over the next 5 years, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) plans

to convert HUD's field structure from three to two levels, eliminating the regional offices. HUD

will free its five assistant secretaries to organize their own functions in the field. It will transfer

many of its application and loan processing functions to private firms. While letting staff attrition

dictate staff reductions- - HUD promises no layoffs--HUD plans to retrain and redeploy people

into more interesting jobs, with better career ladders and better access to managers. HUD

believes its restructuring effort will improve customer service while saving $157.4 million in

personnel and overhead costs.

Step 2: --Hold All Employees Accountable for Results

It's easy to understand why federal employees--including the hundreds who aired their deep

frustrations to the National Performance Review--would care about empowerment. It adds

new, positive dimensions to their jobs. But why should taxpayers or social security recipients

care? Taxpayers aren't interested in what rules bureaucracy follows. But they do care, deeply,

about how well government serves them. They want education programs to give young people

basic skills and teach them how to think, anti-poverty programs that bring the unemployed into

the economic mainstream for good, anti-crime programs that keep criminals off the streets,

and environmental programs that preserve clean air and water. In other words, they want

programs that work.

But management in government does not judge most programs by whether they work or not.

Instead, government typically measures program activity--how much it spends on them, or how

many people it has assigned to staff them.

Because government focuses on these "inputs" instead of real results, it tends to throw good

money after mediocre. It pours more dollars into the old education programs even as student

performance sinks. It enrolls jobless people in training programs that teach by the book, but

places few graduates in well-paid jobs.

Measuring outputs is easy in principle. It means measuring how many unemployed people get

jobs, not how many people look for help at local Employment Service offices. Or it means

measuring how many people received their social security checks on time, not how many

checks were sent out from a local office. "Outputs" are, quite simply, measures of how

government programs and policies affect their customers. The importance of pursuing the

correct measures cannot be underestimated. As Craig Holt, an Oregon Department of

Transportation employee who has worked with the ground-breaking Oregon Progress Board--

our nation's first statewide experiment in comprehensive performance accountability--cautions:

"Our focus has occurred through our indicators, not through our strategic plans."

It may seem amazing to say, but like many big organizations, ours is primarily dominated by

considerations of input--how much money do we spend on a program, how many people do

you have on the staff, what kind of regulations and rules are going to govern it; and much less

by output--does this work, is it changing people's lives for the better?

Setting goals is not something that agencies do once. It is a continual process in which goals

are raised higher and higher to push agency managers and staff harder and harder to improve.

As the old business adage states, "If you're standing still, you're falling behind."

For example, a training program targeted at unemployed steel workers soon is required to

serve unemployed farm workers, the disabled, and displaced homemakers. Originally, the

program's purpose may have been to refer people to jobs. But congressional maneuvers first

force it to offer them training; then to help them find transportation and daycare. All these are

important activities. But, by now, the original appropriation is hopelessly inadequate, reporting

requirements have multiplied geometrically along with the multiplicity of goals, and the program

is not simply unmanaged--it's unmanageable. If agencies are to set measurable goals for their

programs, Congress must demand less and clarify priorities more.

In the private sector, leaders do not simply drop goals on their organizations from above.

Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, Xerox, and others involve their full workforces in identifying a few

goals that have top priority, and then demand smaller work teams to translate those overall

goals into specific team measures. This process enables the people directly responsible for

meeting the goals to help set them. It also ensures that every part of an organization aims at

the same goals, and that everyone understands where they fit in. It may seem a time

consuming process, but boats travel much faster when everyone is pulling their oar in the

same direction. With a new joint spirit of accountability, the executive branch plans to work with

Congress to clarify program goals and objectives, and to identify programs where lack of clarity

is making it difficult to get results.

Not everyone will welcome outcome measures. People will have trouble developing them.

Public employees generally don't focus on the outcomes of their work. For one thing, they've

been conditioned to think about process; for another, measures aren't always easy to develop.

Consequently, they tend to measure their work volume, not their results. If they are working

hard, they believe they are doing all they can. Public organizations will need the several years

envisioned under the Government Performance and Results Act to develop useful outcome

measures and outcome reporting.

Measuring Outcomes

Outcome-based management is new in the public sector. Some U.S. cities have developed it

over the past two decades; some states are beginning to; and foreign countries such as Great

Britain, Australia, and New Zealand are on their way. Sunnyvale, California, a city of 120,000

in the heart of the Silicon Valley, began the experiment 20 years ago. In each policy area, the

city defines sets of "goals," "community condition indicators," "objectives," and "performance

indicators." "In a normal political process, most decision makers never spend much time

talking about the results they want from the money they spend," says City Manager This

generates pressure for ever-higher productivity. Ultimately, no one can generate results

without knowing how the "bottom line" is defined. Without a performance target, managers

manage blindly, employees have no guidance, policymakers don't know what's working, and

customers have no idea where they may be served best. If, for example, jobless people know

how well graduates of local training programs fare when looking for work, they can better

choose which new careers and programs offer the best prospects. Informed consumers are

the strongest enforcers of accountability in government.

For years, the executive branch has taken steps to recognize and support good performance.

In typical fashion, however, we have created three different award systems, each administered

by a different organization. The Federal Quality Institute (FQI) administers the Presidential

Award for Quality; the President's Council on Management Improvement administers the

Award for Management Excellence; and the Office of Personnel Management awards the

Presidential Quality and Management Improvement Awards for tangible savings to the

government of more than $250,000. The administration will issue one set of presidential

awards for quality. The Baldrige Award Office of the National Institute for Standards and

Technology will combine the existing awards into a new set of Baldrige Awards for public

service--to go along with its private sector award. The new award will recognize agency and

work unit quality initiatives and ideas, based on program performance, cost savings,

innovation, and customer satisfaction.

Step 3: --Giving employees the Tools they need to do Their--Jobs

Americans today demand a more responsive, more humane government that costs less. Their

expectations are neither irrational nor whimsical. Over the past 20 years, the entire way we do

things, make things, even contact one another, has changed around us. Businesses have no

guarantees, no captive markets. To compete, they must make things and deliver service better

and faster, and get their message out sooner. No one benefits more than customers. It's no

wonder these same people now turn to government and ask, "Why can't you do things better

too?"

Transforming our federal government to do better will mean recasting what people do as they

work. They will turn from bosses into coaches, from directors into negotiators, from employees

into thinkers and doers. Government has access to the same tools that have helped business

make this transformation; it's just been slower to acquire and use them. We must change that.

We must give workers the tools they need to get results-- then make sure they use them.

Employee Training

After two decades of organizing for quality, business knows one thing for sure: Empowered

people need new skills--to work as teams, use new computer software, interpret financial and

statistical information, cooperate with and manage other people, and adapt. Indeed, business

talks about a new breed of "knowledge worker"--people who understand that, throughout their

careers, their most important task is to continue learning and applying new knowledge to the

challenge at hand. Knowledgeable workers are our most important source of progress. They

are, quite simply, the currency of 21st century commerce.

Business teaches us that ongoing training for every worker is essential for organizations to

work well. Not surprisingly, the federal government under-spends on training and education,

just as it does on most other productivity-enhancing investments. In 1989, the National

Commission on the Public Service, headed by Paul Volcker, estimated that while leading

private firms spend 3 to 5 percent of their budgets on training, retraining, and upgrading

employee skills, the federal government spends less than one percent.

And the little we do spend is not always allocated wisely. A well-promoted 4-day training

seminar packaged to appeal to federal agency managers may seem like a good deal. It is not,

however, always what the agency needs. The Volcker Commission concluded: Federal training

is suffering from an identity crisis. Agencies are not sure what they should train for (short term

or long term), who should get the lion's share of resources (entry level or senior level)...and

whether mid-career education is of value...Career paths are poorly designed, executive

succession is accidental and unplanned, and real-time training for pressured managers is

virtually non-existent. At both the career and presidential level, training is all-too-often ad hoc

and self-initiated.

Perhaps most striking is the paucity of career training for people on the lowest rungs of the civil

service ladder, or for people without the leg-up of university degrees. These valued employees

may have the most tenure in an office. They may see and know everything. Frequently, they

are indispensable, because only they know how the system works--and how to work the

system. Unfortunately, their abilities are rarely rewarded, despite their desire to advance. One

staffer in the Justice Department's Civil Division alerted Vice President Gore to her quandary:

I'm watching the role of our legal secretaries’ change. Less and less of the typical secretarial

duties are being performed, simply because the attorneys do a lot of their own drafting of

documents... However, for a secretary to start to move into a legal assistant position... or into a

paralegal role, is frowned upon... As far as training goes it's impossible... That prevents a lot of

people from...moving into new jobs that are going to be of more benefit to the

department...We've lost a good number of secretaries who have moved elsewhere, because

they cannot go any further here.

Employees at the top rung, too, must keep learning. Managers and executives face the same

hurdles in keeping up with technology as do front-line workers. Technicians must stay up to

date with system advances and new techniques. The growing band of federal export and trade

personnel must learn more than foreign languages--they need to master the language of

negotiation as well. Indeed, employees in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative currently

receive no systematic training in negotiation skills or the cross-cultural styles and patterns they

are likely to encounter in their work--a situation the office is now planning to correct. Perhaps

most important, training is the key that unlocks the power of bottom-up decision making. At the

Reinventing Government Summit, General Electric Executive Vice President Frank Doyle

detailed the GE experience: "We had to educate our entire workforce to give them the tools to

become meaningfully involved in all aspects of work.

Empowerment...is a disorderly and almost meaningless gesture unless people doing the actual

work are given the tools and knowledge that self-direction demands."

Leading corporations view training as a strategic resource, an investment. Federal managers

tend to view it as a cost. So in government, worker training isn't even included in most budget

estimates for new systems or programs. This is puzzling and quite short-sighted, since new

workplace innovations, like advanced software, won't transform employee productivity unless

those employees know how to use them. Although training may be the best and least costly

way to improve worker performance, government executives view it as a "quick fix," unworthy

of any planning effort.

Perceptions are changing, however. Today's management literature is full of talk about the

value of on-the-job-training, computer-based instruction, expert systems, work exchange,

mentors and other tools for learning. Since 1992, OPM has been steering agencies toward

more comprehensive training initiatives. We will grant agencies a substantial portion of the

savings they realize from decentralizing staff and reducing operating costs (see chapter 1) to

invest in worker training, performance measurement, and benchmarking. Budget directives

further complicate an agency's ability to train workers effectively, particularly when its own

budget office, OMB, or Congress cut line items for employee training. Such over-specified

reductions deny employees the access to skills they need to be productive, to advance in their

careers, and to adapt to new technology. This foot-dragging costs the taxpayer dearly. We do

things the old way, not the cheaper, more efficient way. Or we start doing things the new way,

but we don't go far enough: We buy computers for our workers, but not the training to use them

properly, so the software and hardware investments are wasted. We invest in new systems,

and our people can't make them work.

By early 1994, OPM will draft legislation to amend GETA on three fronts. OPM will redefine the

objective of federal training as the "improvement of individual and organizational performance."

It will relate the use of training to achieving an agency's mission and performance goals, not to

a worker's official duties. And OPM will seek to end the distinction between government and

nongovernment training, giving public employees access to the best training services

available, no matter who provides them.

Management Information Systems

Management isn't about guessing, it's about knowing. Those in positions of responsibility must

have the information they need to make good decisions. Good managers have the right

information at their fingertips. Poor managers don't. Good information comes from good

information systems. Management information systems have improved in lockstep with every

advance in the telecommunications revolution. New management information systems are

transforming government, just as they have business, in two ways. They can make

government more productive--the benefit we discuss in this chapter--and let us deliver services

to customers in new ways, which we take on in chapter 4. Indeed, today's systems have

enabled businesses to slim down data processing staffs, while giving more employees access

to more accurate data. This shows up on the bottom line. If federal decision makers are given

the same type of financial and performance information that private managers use, it too will

show up on the bottom line--and cut the cost of government.

Sheer size alone would make the federal government difficult to manage, even under the best

of conditions. Unfortunately, federal employees don't work under the best of conditions.

Indeed, when it comes to financial information, many are flying blind. It's not for lack of staffing:

Some 120,000 workers--almost 6 percent of non-postal service civilian employees--perform

budget, accounting, auditing, and financial management tasks.

But when OMB surveyed agency financial reporting systems last year, it found that one-third

were more than a decade old, and only 6 percent were less than 2 years old. One-third failed

to meet Treasury and OMB reporting standards. Two-fifths did not meet their own in-house

reporting standards--meaning they did not provide the information managers wanted. And

more than half simply lacked the computer power to process the data being entered.

We all know the potential costs of lagging systems: They contributed to the $300 billion

savings and loan bailout $47 billion in nontax delinquent debt, $3.6 billion Vastly improved

financial management is critical to the overall effort to reform government. First, it will save

taxpayers money. Trillions of dollars flow through the federal government in any year; even a

small improvement in managing those funds could recover billions. Second, we need accurate

and timely financial information if managers are to have greater authority to run federal

agencies, and decision-making moves to the front lines. Greater responsibility requires greater

accountability, or the best-intentioned reforms will only create new problems. Finally, better

financial management will present a more accurate picture of the federal budget, enabling the

President, Congress, and agency leaders to make better policy decisions.

By the end of 1993, OMB and Treasury will sign a formal agreement to clarify their respective

policymaking and implementation roles, to eliminate regulatory confusion and overlap for their

governmental customers. OMB, working with Treasury and the CFO Council, will charter a

government wide Budget and Financial Information Steering Group to oversee the stewardship

of financial planning and management data for the federal government. In addition, by Spring,

1994, OMB will work with the existing Joint Financial Management Improvement Program,

which currently develops and publishes financial system requirements, and consult with

Treasury and the agencies to define exactly what constitutes an integrated budget and

financial system.

Finally, we will insist on higher qualifications for chief financial officers. After all, many federal

agencies are larger than Fortune 500 companies. Americans deserve financial officers with

qualifications that match those in our best companies. By March 1994, working with accounting

and banking groups, the CFO Council will create a continuing education program for federal

financial managers. At the same time, OMB guidelines will clarify the precise financial

functions the CFO should oversee, trimming responsibilities like personnel or facilities

management that lie outside the CFO's main mission.

A recent GAO audit of the Internal Revenue Service unearthed $500,000 of overpayments to

vendors in just 280 transactions and a video display terminal that cost only $752 listed at $5.6

million on the IRS books. Other GAO efforts found the Army and Air Force guilty of $200 billion

in accounting mistakes, NASA of $500 million, and widespread recordkeeping problems across

government. In 1990, Congress concluded that "current financial reporting standards of the

federal government do not accurately disclose the current and probable future cost of

operating and investment decisions including the future needs for cash and other resources."

In other words, if a publicly-traded corporation kept its books the way the federal government

does, the Securities and Exchange Commission would close it down immediately.

It's not that we have no accounting procedures and standards. It's that we have too many, and

too many of them conflict. Even worse, some budget and accounting practices obscure the

amount and type of resources managers might leverage to produce savings and increase

productivity. We must agree on stricter accounting standards for the federal books. We require

corporations to meet strict standards of financial management before their stocks can be

publicly traded. They must fully disclose their financial condition, operating results, cash flows,

long-term obligations, and contingent liabilities. Independent certified public accountants audit

their accounts. But we exempt the $1.5 trillion federal government from comparable standards.

The ultimate consumer of information about the performance of federal organizations should

be the American public. As agencies develop output and outcome measures, they should

publish them. The customer service standards required by the President's directive on

improving customer service, outlined in chapter 2, will be a first step.

A second step will be a new report card on the financial condition of the federal government.

For the last 20 years, our government has issued "prototype" financial statements, but no one

can assure their accuracy. Put simply, they would never pass an audit. We believe Americans

deserve numbers they can trust. By 1997, we will require the Department of the Treasury to

provide an audited consolidated annual report on federal finances--including tax expenditures,

hidden subsidies, and hidden contingent liabilities such as trust funds and government-

sponsored enterprises.

Information Technology

A few years ago in Massachusetts, a disabled veterans caseworker who worked to match

veterans with available jobs took some initiative. He decided to abandon his sole reliance on

the state's central office mainframe computer and take his personal laptop, loaded with readily

available software, on the road. Suddenly, he was able to check a database, make a match,

and print a resume all during his first contact with an employer. Quickly, he started beating the

mainframe. His state administrator took notice, and managed to squeak through a request to

the Department of Labor's Veterans Employment and Training Service for grant funding and

permission to reprogram dollars in the fall of 1990. Soon after, 40 Massachusetts caseworkers

were working with laptops. In just one year, Massachusetts jumped from 47th in the nation for

its veteran’s job placement rate to 23rd.

Although this story screams success, it is unfortunately the exception, not the rule. Normally,

the Labor Department has to approve the purchase of something as small as a $30 modem in

the field. Massachusetts got the funding only because it was the end of the fiscal year and

money had to be spent.

The point stands: When workers have current and flexible technology to do their jobs, they

improve performance. We need to get more computers off the shelf and into the

Transforming the federal government is an enormous, complex undertaking that begins with

leadership, not technology. Yet, in helping to break down organizational boundaries and speed

service delivery, information technology can be a powerful tool for reinvention. To use that tool,

government employees must have a clear vision of its benefits and a commitment to its use.

In short, it's time our government adjusted to the real world, tightened its belt, managed its

affairs in the context of an economy that is information-based, rapidly changing, and puts a

premium on speed and function and service, not rules and regulations. President Bill Clinton

Remarks announcing the National Performance Review March 3, 1993

Washington's attempts to integrate information technology into the business of government

have produced some successes but many costly failures. Many federal executives continue to

overlook information technology's strategic role in reengineering agency practices. Agency

information resource management plans aren't integrated, and their managers often aren't

brought into the top realm of agency decision-making. Modernization programs tend to

degenerate into loose collections of independent systems solving unique problems. Or they

simply automate, instead of improve, how we do business.

Step 4: --Enhancing the Quality of Work life

When it comes to the quality of work life, as measured by employee pay, benefits, schedule

flexibility, and working conditions, the federal government usually gets good marks. Uncle Sam

is a family-friendly employer, offering plenty of options that help employees balance their life

and work responsibilities. Flextime, part-time, leave-sharing, and unpaid family and medical

leave are all available. Pilot projects in telecommuting allow some workers who travel long

distances to work at locations closer to home.

The federal government would be smart to keep abreast of workplace trends. Our increasingly

diverse workforce struggles to manage child care, elder care, family emergencies, and other

personal commitments, while working conditions become ever more important. Recent studies

suggest that our ability to recruit and retain the best employees--and motivate them to be

productive--depends on our ability to create a satisfying work environment. Johnson &

Johnson, for example, reported that its employees who used flextime and family leave were

absent 50 percent fewer days than its regular workforce. Moreover, 71 percent of those

workers using benefits said that the policies were "very important" to their decision to stay with

the company, as compared to 58 percent of the employees overall. Even under current

workplace policies, federal workers still encounter some problems. Many agencies do not fully

advocate or implement flexible work policies. For example, only 53 percent of our employees

with dependent care needs believe their agencies understand and support family issues,

according to OPM. Thirty-eight percent indicated that their agencies do not provide the full

range of dependent-care services available. As one example, OPM concluded that "...certain

agencies may have internal barriers that make supervisors reluctant to approve employee

requests to work part-time."

One of the things we learned... is that there's a strong correlation between employee

satisfaction and customer satisfaction. If your employees are unhappy and worried about the

various base line, basic needs, you know, of the quality of their work life, they won't worry

about customers.

In a productive workplace, where employees clearly understand their agency's mission, how

they fit into it, and what they must accomplish to fulfill it, everyone is a professional. The work

culture must send this message in every way possible. One easy way is to put an end--once

and for all--to meaningless employee sign-ins and sign-outs on time sheets.

Many may consider this a trivial matter. But consider the salaried Health and Human Services

(HHS) employee who must still sign in at a central location in her office every morning--and

sign out exactly 81/2 hours later. She must do this no matter how many more hours she really

works, and every employee in her branch must sign the same list, in order of appearance.

Occasionally, when she gets caught up in a meeting or lost in concentration at her desk, she

forgets to sign the book at her appointed hour. Supervisors have "guided" her to avoid this

problem. She tells her supervisor, who agrees that the practice is senseless, that it

discourages her from working longer hours. "What about us overachievers?" she asks him.

"You lose," he answers. The truth is, we all lose. Yet HHS continues to spend dollars training

timekeepers. The Department of Labor, by contrast, listened to complaints from its employees

about the needless paper-pushing and use of administrative time that repetitive timekeeping

required. Under the leadership of Secretary Robert Reich, and with full backing of union

presidents who represent department employees, Labor has begun to dump the standard time

card.

Much can be done to make equal opportunity an integral part of each agency's mission and

strategic plan. The President should issue a directive in 1993, committing the administration to

attaining a diverse federal workforce and increasing the representation of qualified minorities,

women, and people with disabilities at all career levels. The order should instruct agency

heads to build equal employment opportunity and affirmative employment elements into their

agency strategic plans and performance agreements. In turn, agency leaders should require

managers and teams throughout their agencies to build the same goals into their own

performance plans--and should publicly recognize those who succeed.

Step 6: Exerting Leadership

Despite the federal government's solid core of capable employees, it lacks effective leadership

and management strategies. In 1992, GAO delivered a stark diagnosis of the situation. Our

government, GAO reported, lacks the "processes and systems fundamental to a well-run

organization. Most agencies have not created a vision of their futures, most lack good systems

to collect and use financial information or to gauge operational success and accountability, and

many people do not have the skills to accomplish their missions." This situation, GAO

concluded in a burst of understatement, was "not good." The sweeping change in work culture

that quality government promises won't happen by itself. Power won't decentralize of its own

accord. It must be pushed and pulled out of the hands of the people who have wielded it for so

long. It will be a struggle. We must look to the nation's top leaders and managers to break new

ground. The President, the Vice President, cabinet secretaries, and agency heads are pivotal

to bringing about government wide change. It is they who must lead the charge. That is a

promise we must make to the entire community of hardworking, committed federal workers. It

is a promise we must keep.

The first directive issued along with this report will clarify the President's vision of a quality

federal government. It will commit the administration to the principles of reinventing

government, quality management, and perpetual reengineering, as well as the

Every cabinet-level department and federal agency will designate a chief operating officer

(COO). In addition to ensuring that the President's and agency heads' priorities are

implemented, COOs will be responsible for applying quality principles in transforming the

agencies' day-to-day management cultures, for improving performance to achieve agencies'

goals, for reengineering administrative processes, and for implementing other National

Performance Review recommendations.

The COO will not add an additional position in the secretary's or director's staff. Secretaries

and agency directors should designate the deputy secretary or under secretary with

agencywide authority as the COO. The COO will report directly to the agency's top official.

Unless everyone understands what a work process is, how to map it, how to analyze and

quantify its essential elements, no organization will be able to reap the enormous gains in

performance that come with an involved and empowered workforce. Frank Doyle Executive

Vice President, General Electric Reinventing Government Summit, Philadelphia June 25, 1993

The President should appoint the Deputy Director for Management of OMB to chair the PMC,

and its progress will be overseen by the Vice President. The council will include the COOs

from 15 major agencies and three other agencies designated by the chairperson, the heads of

GSA and OPM, and the President's Director of Cabinet Affairs (ex officio). Its agenda will

include setting priorities, identifying and resolving cross-agency management issues;

establishing interagency task forces to transform government wide systems such as personnel,

budget, procurement, and information technology; and soliciting feedback from the public and

government employees.

It will secure assistance from the CEOs, officials and consultants who have helped transform

major American corporations, states and local governments, and non-profit organizations. In

addition, the PMC will conduct an annual performance review of the federal government and

issue an annual report to the public on its findings.

However pressing the need, we cannot expect leaders, managers and employees caught up in

old ways to change overnight. To nurture a quality culture within government, we must help the

entire workforce understand the President's vision. Unless we train everyone in the new skills

they need--and help them understand the new roles they are expected to play--they can,

through passive or active resistance, frustrate well-intentioned attempts to progress. So first

and foremost, everyone will need to learn what working and managing for quality is all about.

Even as agencies reorganize around quality and customers, their staff may need training to

fulfill expanded job responsibilities. Line staff may need to learn budget and procurement

processes. Managers may need help in becoming coaches rather than commanders. We will

pursue the goal of reaching the entire federal workforce with quality training.

It is worth noting that some cabinet secretaries already are up on the quality learning curve.

During the past few months, more than 60 top field managers, contract lab directors, and

assistant secretaries have joined Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary for 6 days of total quality

management training at Motorola University in Chicago. They've agreed on a mission

statement, set the department's core values, and put strategic planning in motion. In the

process, skeptics have become energized, egos have been subsumed, hidden agendas

unearthed and dispensed. In the words of one participant, "Everyone is working as a team.

We're incredibly excited about doing better. In just 6 days of quality training, we have moved

from 'I' to 'we'." Other departments are hot on Energy's heels

1. REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Empowerment has been described as a venue to enable employees make decisions

(Bowen & Lawler, 1992) and as a personal experience where individuals take responsibility for

their own actions (Pastor, 1996). The first definition puts the onus on management, and the

second emphasizes the importance of the individual for successful application of

empowerment.

Whereas, earlier research focused on empowerment as a set of management practices to

delegate authority (discretionary empowerment (Blau & Alba, 1982), recent research has

centered on psychological focusing on empowerment, employee experience (Corsun & Enz,

1999). Kelley (1993) distinguished among three types of discretionary empowerment: routine,

creative, and deviant, available during the service-delivery process. Routine discretion is

implemented when employees select an alternative from a list of possible actions to do their

jobs.

Creative discretion is present when employees develop alternate methods of performing a

task. Deviant discretion, which is not preferred by organizations, involves behaviors outside the

scope of an employee’s formal job description and authority. Thomas and Velthouse (1990)

defined psychological empowerment as inherent motivation evident in four cognitions

(meaning, competence, self-determination, and impact) reflecting an employee’s orientation to

his or her work role.

Numerous studies have shown that empowerment increases job satisfaction and reduces role

stress (Zeithaml, Berry, & Parasuraman, 1988). Singh (1993) found that customer-contact

employees experienced less role ambiguity when their discretionary powers increased.

Empowerment led to quicker resolution of customer problems because employees did not

waste time referring customer complaints to managers (Rafiq & Ahmed, 1998).

The authors stated that empowerment was highly crucial in situations where customer needs

are highly variable, in order to enable employees to customize service delivery.

Empowerment also increased the scope and opportunity for customization of service products

in comparison to manufactured products. Gandz (1990) writes, "Empowerment means that

management vests decision-making or approval authority in employees where, traditionally,

such authority was a managerial prerogative." (p. 75) However, this is not the definition of what

is usually called employee empowerment.  One author notes empowerment is, "easy to define

in its absence—alienation, powerless, helplessness—but difficult to define positively because it

'takes on a different form in different people and contexts'" (Zimmerman, 1990, p.169).  When

most people refer to employee empowerment they mean a great deal more than delegation.  It

is for this reason that many authors provide their own definitions.  Other authors (Blanchard,

Carlos & Randolph, 1996; Blanchard & Bowles, 1998) use their entire book to define

empowerment. 

For example, Caudron (1995) articulates empowerment as, "when employees 'own' their jobs;

when they are able to measure and influence their individual success as well as the success of

their departments and their companies." (p.28). the casual reader may think that owning one's

job is what the postal worker's union seeks to provide their members.  Most would agree,

however, that job security is not empowerment.  Many employees must measure their jobs by

submitting reports.  Seeking one's own individual success is what the American dream is all

about.  And knowing that one makes a contribution to the success of the department and the

company is a given in all but the largest organizations.  It is only when these ideas are taken

together in one package that they approach a definition of employee empowerment.   

Ettorre's (1997) definition of empowerment as, "employees having autonomous decision-

making capabilities and acting as partners in the business, all with an eye to the bottom-line"

(p.1) is more accessible to many readers.      It is this essential ingredient, information with

which to make decisions, from which empowerment is created. 

Bowen and Lawler (1992) indicate, "We define empowerment as sharing with front-line

employees four organizational ingredients:  [the first being] information about the

organization's performance. . . .[another is] knowledge that enables employees to understand

and contribute to organizational performance" (p. 32).  The other two ingredients Bowen and

Lawler note are, "rewards based on the organization's performance [and] power to make

decisions that influence organizational direction and performance."  In a later article these

authors conclude that, "research suggests that empowerment exists when companies

implement practices that distribute power, information, knowledge, and rewards throughout the

organization."

Another author uses this type of combination of concepts to define empowerment.  Spreitzer

(1995) indicates,”psychological empowerment is defined as a motivational construct

manifested in four cognitions:  meaning, competence, self-determination, and impact. 

Together these four cognitions reflect an active, rather than a passive, orientation toward a

work role." (p. 1442).  Spreitzer notes, "the four dimensions are argued to combine additively

to create an overall construct of psychological empowerment. Researchers tend to provide

definitions of the concept of empowerment which reflect observed end results or their research

into concepts which are known and are or may be precursors to empowerment.  In his 1995

dissertation, Menon indicates, "the empowered state was defined as a cognitive state of

perceived control, perceived competence and goal internalization. . . .The empirical results

supported the view that empowerment is a construct conceptually distinct from other

constructs such as delegation, self-efficacy and intrinsic task motivation.” 

In this case the constructs of delegation, self-efficacy and intrinsic task motivation are known

quantities, each with its own previously tested validity.  Conger and Kanungo (1988) note in

their literature review that, "scholars have assumed that empowerment. . . .[Is] the process by

which a leader or manager shares his or her power with subordinates. However, they also

note, “We believe that this approach has serious flaws." (p. 471) Instead, the authors offer this

definition, "Empowerment is . . . a process of enhancing feelings of self-efficacy among

organizational members through the identification of conditions that foster powerlessness and

through their removal by both formal organizational practices and informal techniques of

providing efficacy information." (Conger & Kanungo, 1988, p. 474). 

  Other researchers have attempted to classify what has been written and practiced previously,

and found it lacking.  Quinn and Spreitzer (1997) provide two such classifications.  In the,

"mechanistic approach" (p. 38) managers and researchers "believed that empowerment was

about delegating decision making within a set of clear boundaries. . . . Delegate responsibility;

and Hold people accountable for results." (p. 37)  In the, "organic approach to empowerment"

(p. 37) researchers and managers "believed that it [empowerment] was about risk taking,

growth, and change. . . .Understanding the needs of the employees; model empowered

behavior for the employees; build teams to encourage cooperative behavior; encourage

intelligent risk taking; and trust people to perform." (p. 38) However, they found these two

approaches lacking; some combination of the two was needed.  In the end, they indicate,

"empowerment must be defined in terms of fundamental beliefs and personal orientations. . . .

Empowered people have a sense of self-determination. . . .Empowered people have a sense

of meaning. . . .Empowered people have a sense of competence. . . . Empowered people have

a sense of impact." (Quinn & Spreitzer, 1997, p. 40)

The most comprehensive definition of empowerment in the literature can be found in Thomas

and Velthouse's 1990 article entitled "Cognitive elements of empowerment: 

An 'interpretive' model of intrinsic task motivation".  The definition they provide is: To empower

means to give power to.  Power, however, has several meanings…authority, so that

empowerment can mean authorization. . . .Capacity. . . .However, power also means energy. 

Thus to empower also can mean to energize.  This latter meaning best captures the present

motivational usage of the term. 

Our perception is that the word empowerment has become popular because it provides a label

for a nontraditional paradigm of motivation. . . .Change [has] forced a search for alternative

forms of management that encourage commitment, risk-taking, and innovation. . . .the newer

paradigm involves relaxed (or broad) controls and an emphasis on internalized commitment to

the task itself. . . .We use the word empowerment to refer to the motivational content of this

newer paradigm of management. (p. 667) in her excellent literature review of employee

empowerment, Linda Honold indicates, "to be successful, each organization must create and

define it [empowerment] for itself.  Empowerment must address the needs and culture of each

unique entity." (Honold, 1997, p. 202)  It is in this spirit that I offer my own definition of

empowerment.

Every employer uses employee empowerment to some extent, though it is often thought of as

delegation.  No organization of more than one person can survive without some employee

empowerment.  When the owner of a Mail Boxes, Etc. hires someone to work the weekends,

that person is empowered.  When a manager hires an accounting graduate to maintain the

departmental ledger, that person is empowered. 

When the director of advertising chooses which slogan should go on the web banner, that

person is empowered.  In each of these instances the empowered person has been provided

with the training and experience they need to be effective in their position.  Each has the

information to know how their decisions will impact the larger whole.  Empowerment is a

process of becoming, not a task or end result in and of itself,  Just as with continuous

improvement, no organization is ever done with its empowerment implementation; no person is

ever "completely empowered".  Empowerment becomes part of the culture of the organization. 

Empowering others becomes a transparent act, nobody within the organization notices when

an act of empowerment is exercised.     Clearly, empowerment is neither quick nor easy,

except in the case of a newly formed organization where the leaders understand it and have

committed themselves and the organization to it.

A Culture of Empowerment

     An organization's culture is a complex thing, not easily described.  Yet it is upon this

foundation that empowerment is built.  The organizations which successfully implement

employee empowerment will have certain values at their core from which the process of

empowerment can flow.  Among these values are respect and appreciation for individuals and

the value they bring to the organization.  Values alone do not make up an organization's

culture, and respect for individuals is only one of the outward signs of an empowered culture.

Edgar Schein defines organizational culture as,

a pattern of basic assumptions—invented, discovered, or developed by a given group as it

learns to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration—that has

worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the

correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems.  (Schein, 1985, p. 9)

However coherent this definition seems, the concept is much more complex.  Schein uses the

bulk of his book Organizational Culture and Leadership to provide a more complete

understanding of what culture really is. Such in depth study of this single concept is beyond the

scope of this paper and I would refer the reader to Schein's book for a deeper understanding.

Nonetheless, the culture of the organization must support the thrust of empowerment if there is

any chance for success.  I am resolved to discuss the "'artifacts' and 'values' that are the

manifestations or surface levels of the culture" (Schein, 1985, p. 6-7) since that is within the

scope of this thesis.      For example, Quinn and Spreitzer (1997) indicate, "empowerment

must be defined in terms of fundamental beliefs and personal orientations" (p. 40), which is an

apt description of organizational culture.  Yet they go on to note the manifestations,

"Empowered people have a sense of self-determination. . . .Empowered people have a sense

of meaning. . . .Empowered people have a sense of competence. . . . Empowered people have

a sense of impact." (Quinn & Spreitzer, 1997, p. 40).  Other manifestations these authors note

in an earlier article include, "actual barriers to change present …and the social support

available to the manager from his/her boss and peers." (Spreitzer & Quinn, 1996, p. 239),

these barriers are aspects of culture. 

Another example is provided by Gandz (1990), "A set of shared values is needed. . . .beliefs

about the way things should be done, the standards of behavior that are appropriate, the ethics

of organizational actions. . . .Such values compel and propel behavior" (p. 75)—significant

cultural artifacts which will lead to empowerment. Ford and Fottler (1995) provide a model of

how empowered an individual is on two scales, job content and job context.  The aspects of

job context are manifestations of culture; they indicate, "Job context is much broader. 

It is the reason the organization needs that job done and includes both how it fits into the

overall organizational mission, goals, and objectives and the organizational setting within

which that job is done.  Organizational structure, rewards systems, mission, goals, objectives

and so forth make up the rich tapestry of job context." (p. 22-23).  Organizational structure and

reward systems are often put into place with the unknowing and unquestioned basic

assumptions which are part of the culture of the organization. 

Shein's position supports this view thusly, "If culture has developed in this sense, it will affect

most of the aspects of an organization—its strategy, its structure, its processes, its reward and

control systems, and its daily routines." An organization seeking to implement empowerment is

likely to examine its structure and reward systems, however if the culture is not also examined

by the change agents, replacement structures and systems are likely to reflect the old

assumptions.  One such assumption is whether individuals or groups (teams) should be

rewarded for their efforts.

Many organizations in the United States hold that country's value of individualism.  If, on the

one hand, teams are being promoted as a tool of empowerment, and on the other hand,

individuals are being rewarded for the work of the team, then employees will unconsciously (or

consciously) pick-up on the cultural norm and will be reluctant to dedicate themselves to the

teaming concept where their work may not be recognized and rewarded.  In other words,

empowered organizations put their money where their mouth is. Mallak and  Kurstedt (1996),

perhaps more articulately, express this sentiment when they write, "Managers who understand

how empowerment integrates with organizational culture are motivated to lead employees…

and help them internalize the values and traditions [of empowerment]. 

These managers help create a work environment where employees take action for intrinsic

reasons more so than for extrinsic reasons." (p. 8).   Shipper and Manz (1992), in their

description of W. L. Gore and Associates, demonstrate how committed to empowerment that

company is by describing the cultural manifestations.  Some examples include:  there are no

position titles, all employees are called Associates; every associate has one or more sponsors

who provide training, act as coach or mentor, and advocate with the compensation committee

for the employee's pay increases; all associates are encouraged to apply their creativity, even

to the extent of finding their own job within the organization after being hired.  While these

tactics far surpass what another organization interested in empowering its employees is likely

to do, they do reflect what has been successful for Gore.

The cultural values which brought about this unique organizational culture are the result of the

personal values of Gore's founder.  Schein notes, "Founders usually have a major impact on

how the group defines and solves its external adaptation and internal integration problems."

(Schein, 1985, p. 210), these are essential components of the development of culture. Other

authors provide less articulate, though no less powerful, demonstrations of the importance of

organizational culture to employee empowerment.  Witness:  Blanchard and Bowles (1998),

"It's the understanding, not the work.  It's how the work helps others, not units dealt with." (p.

170); Block (1987), "Creating a vision of greatness [is] the first step toward empowerment" (p.

99); Ginnodo (1997) "Empowerment serves a purpose.  It's not a feel-good program.  It's about

accomplishing business objectives.  It's a means to an end, not an end in itself.  Empowerment

helps employees help the organization and themselves…." (p.12). by now, it should be clear

that the organization's culture is important to employee empowerment. 

However, as Schein points out, "we may be suggesting something very drastic when we say,

'Let's change the culture'" (Schein, 1985, p. 5).  And you may be asking yourself, "How would

we go about changing the culture, should we decide we need to do so?”  A very good question

indeed.  Fortunately, Schein provides some insight into this.  He notes, "Leaders create

culture, but cultures, in turn, create their next generation of leaders." (Schein, 1985, p. 313). 

If the leader is acting in a growing organization, he or she needs, "both vision and the ability to

articulate it and enforce it." (Schein, 1985, p. 317).  If, however, the organizational culture is

mature, "If it is to change its culture, it must be led by someone who can, in effect, break the

tyranny of the old culture." (Schein, 1985, p. 321).  This is accomplished through replacement

of assumptions.  "If an assumption is to be given up, it must be replaced or redefined in

another form, and it is the burden of leadership to make that happen." (Schein, 1985, p. 324) 

Schein makes a distinction between leaders and managers.  I make that distinction as well in

the section on the manager's role below

Culture and Empowerment

Empowerment often fails because the employee is the only focus.

But the organization's culture may prevent managers from letting go.

Empowerment means LESS decision making for managers.

Managers may not be helped to clarify their changed roles.

If managers are insecure they hang on even harder to their "rights".

Risk taking may be encouraged while mistakes are still punished.

Empowerment entails a total culture change...from top to bottom.

Role models and success stories should be celebrated.

Initiative which leads to reasonable mistakes should be rewarded.

Empowerment is an excellent tool for motivating employees and for talent

retention.

Empowerment is a concept within management circles that has become increasingly popular

over the past 20 years. Its definition tends to vary depending on the situation in which it is

used. Empowerment is a human resources term that involves a power transfer from higher

levels of employees to lower levels of employees within an organization (Cunningham,

Hayman, and Baldry, 1996). The theory of empowerment is that employees when given the

opportunity to enjoy more autonomy in decision-making will enjoy greater satisfaction with their

jobs. This satisfaction provides catalytic assistance towards increased organizational loyalty,

productivity and customer satisfaction. If employees are loyal, productive, and happy with their

jobs, the organization benefits through greater customer satisfaction (Cunningham et al., 1996;

and Cordery, 1995).

Within the literature, empowerment runs the gamut of authority from the ability to suggest

items for incorporation up to and including the authority to execute the suggestions without

approval from higher management (Yagil, 2002). However, the lack of distinguishing between

minor and major forms of empowerment may lead to management confusion and/or poor

execution of empowerment strategies. Spreitzer (1997) divided empowerment into two

perspectives.

The first perspective defines empowerment as having power in the organization and power to

make decisions. This forin empowerment can be achieved through delegation or sharing of

power. This perspective is referred to as the relational perspective. The second perspective on

empowerment is more psychological in nature and is viewable as subjective. Spreitzer (1995)

calls it the psychological perspective.

According to Bowen and Lawler (1992), a benefit of empowerment is that employees will feel

better about their jobs and themselves. Letting employees call the shots allows them to feel

"ownership" of the job; they feel responsible for it and find the work meaningful. Bowen and

Lawler (1992) continued to state that job design research shows when employees have a

sense of control and are doing meaningful work they are more satisfied. This leads to lower

turnover, less absenteeism, and fewer union organizing drives.

The management literature treats empowerment as a relational construct emphasizing social

exchange theory. In this context, empowerment is the process where a manager shares power

with subordinates. This power is interpreted as the formal authority over organizational

resources. However, more prevalent is the psychology literature where the notion of

empowerment is viewed as a motivational construct focusing on intrinsic characteristics of

people (Spreitzer, 1997). Power is viewed as enabling people to develop personal efficacy

through creating conditions for heightened motivation for task accomplishment.

Employee empowerment is created by a loosening of the reins by employers and the passing

of trust onto employees In practice, this means moving away from dictating how the land lies to

staff by allowing them to access information that they were not previously privy to and offering

them an extended freedom of choice. In many cases, it also represents a shift away from the

traditional relationship between employers and staff to one that is built on emotions.

The benefits of embracing this approach can result in employees feeling more committed to

their job and their employer. Peter Thompson, director of the future work forum at Henley

Management College, says: "Genuinely empowered employees are happier at work. They

drive down absenteeism rates and their productivity levels are higher."The problem is

employee empowerment can be tricky to measure, because there is a difference between staff

merely being 'happy' and them being 'genuinely happy' at work. As a result, the term

'empowerment' is often casually touted around.

"A lot of managers talk about empowering employees and then treat staff like children, saying

they have to be in at [a certain] time and so on. It is all part of allowing employees choice and

control over their conditions of work. Coming into this is the choice of the benefits that are

offered," explains Thompson.

Benefits can go a long way towards creating a sense of empowerment for employees. By

ensuring that perks are relevant for staff, and by giving them a say in the package they

receive, employers can create a genuine feeling of empowerment among employees, rather

than a relationship that is superficial and doesn't reflect what staff really feel.One such benefit

is allowing staff to work flexibly. Enabling them to manage their own work-life balance can

demonstrate an employer's trust in its workforce, which can lead to employees feeling

empowered. The rise in importance of flexible working arrangements, which give employees

the option of managing their own hours as opposed to being forced to work a standard nine-to-

five day, has been illustrated by Roffey Park's Management agenda 2006 which revealed that

56% of managers want to introduce flexible working.Claire McCartney, senior researcher at

Roffey Park who was involved in conducting the research, explains: "Flexible working is an

effective way of empowering employees. It builds trust, loyalty and commitment.

Accountancy firm KPMG offers flexible working arrangements to all staff, and believes they are

an essential tool for empowering its workforce. Cheryl Curtis, reward manager, explains: "We

want to show trust and encourage employees to stay in the firm so we have options such as

early starts."It's about saying 'we value you, we trust you and we want you to stay'."Many

organizations, however, have yet to move away from the traditional view of flexible working,

which limits staff to simply being permitted to stagger the times they start and finish, explains

McCartney.

"There are many creative methods such as buying and selling holiday, extended and

compressed working weeks and home working," she says.

According to Thompson, home working is one of the most effective ways of imparting trust

onto employees, and thus empowering them. "That's real empowerment because it says, 'I

don't need to look over your shoulder while you are working'," he explains. The choice involved

in flexible benefits schemes also offers the scope to empower employees, as it is an

opportunity for employers to offer staff a pot of money to spend how they please.

Although, on the face of it, flex provides choice for staff, employers must be careful to provide

sufficient options for employees to select from, because they will otherwise be in danger of

limiting the capacity of such a scheme to empower staff due to this lack of choice. Similarly,

employers should also ensure that they include benefits options that employees actually want

and are prepared to take up. There is little point in selecting a range of benefits, which staff

does not utilize. Forward-thinking employers have cottoned on to this concept and have

introduced measures such as employee councils or conducting regular staff surveys in order to

ensure they are involved in the selection process and so will actually value the benefits on

offer.

Although the Information and Consultation Directive, which came into effect in April 2005 and

will affect all organizations with more than 50 staff by March 2008, requires employers, to set

up an employee works council if requested to do so, these are not obliged to discuss which

benefits staff would value. The only time when employers may be required to use a council for

this purpose is when a move involves a change to employees' terms and conditions. KPMG

has gone a step further with its Employee Business Forum which was set up to tackle, among

other issues, the benefits it offers to staff. The forum includes representatives from different

departments at the firm, while employees who are not involved can request that certain topics

are raised at meetings."At the forum, the elected body chooses their own agenda and decides

what they want to discuss.

These points are then raised with senior management," explain Curtis. Many organizations are

beginning to acknowledge the value in detaching themselves from the benefit decision-making

process, and handing the control to the end users, employees. Gareth Jones, senior flex

consultant at Aon Consulting, explains: "There is a very strong desire now to involve

employees in decision making either right from the start or as a rubber stamp to ensure what is

being introduced will work for them."While providing different benefits options and enabling

staff to work flexibly are clear ways of offering choice to employees, there are also more subtle

ways of empowering staff, and giving them some control over benefits decisions. Self-service

HR systems, for example, are becoming more commonplace. These allow staff to take

ownership of personal information held on file relating to their benefits. Benefits calculators and

modeling tools work along similar lines. These online tools allow staff to instantly see the value

of certain benefits, and calculate both their current and future value.

For example, around company car schemes, employees can work out how much driving a

certain car will cost them in tax per month at the click of a button. Such tools can also be used

for pension scheme calculations and projections. Christopher Hopkins, director at

communication specialists Caburn Hope, explains: "You can forecast the future, and ask 'what

if I did this or did that'? You can play around with the future, and understand your pension's

value." Giving control back to employees by enabling them to better understand and decide

how to deal with their pension is a crucial step to empowerment. Ian Buchan, brand

development manager (corporate pensions) at Standard Life, explains: "People buy with their

eyes, and when they can visually see a graph or pie chart with information about their pension

scheme they can make informed decisions. It's no longer just a letter that comes through the

post once a year."But employers must not be scared to hand over this detail, nor

underestimate employees' knowledge of pension schemes, explains Thompson.

"There is sometimes a bit of snobbery among benefits professionals who think that if you give

employees details on their pension plan they won't understand it. But [staff] are people who

buy their own life assurance policies [and] endowment policies, so never say they won't

understand their own pension," he says. Employers can even help to empower staff around

benefits by providing education to those who are interested in making changes to their pension

scheme, for example. Mike Ashton, senior consultant at Watson Wyatt says: "True

empowerment comes from offering reward to encourage financial awareness and helping

people to manage their own lives."As changes were made to UK pension schemes to comply

with new pension’s tax simplification rules, which came into effect in April 2006, offering

access to financial advice or education became popular, as there was an increased need for

staff to understand their company's pension scheme and how it would be affected.

Yet, with any of these benefits, it is not enough for employers to merely offer them to staff and

expect to reap the rewards of a more empowered workforce. For this to occur, employees

must understand and value the importance of their packages, and the choices they have been

given.

Communication around benefits, therefore, plays an important role. While employers may

choose to offer benefits that empower staff they must also make sure that they communicate

them properly by tapping into employees' emotions. It is this crucial transition that appears to

be letting a vast number of companies down, as they are willing to provide the benefits but

cannot communicate them in a way that empower staffs. "This is endemic. There is a general

lack of understanding on the transition between displaying and then communicating effectively.

It is the transition between the rational and the emotional that is absent," adds Hopkins.

While assumptions could be made about the types of organizations that may be more effective

at empowering staff than others, there appears to be little in the way of factual data to back this

up. Traditionally, some benefits such as flexible working have been perceived to be better

suited to smaller more robust organizations, while larger firms were thought to be less inclined

to change their well-established working practices."In the past, in a very paternalistic way,

large employers have patted employees on the head and said 'they won't understand anyway

so we won't bother their tiny little minds with details'," Thompson explains.

While attitudes in some quarters may be changing, there are still some human resources

departments, that believe this is the most effective way to operate, explains Aon's Jones. "I

think there is sometimes a feeling that HR knows best, a sort of 'that's what you need'

approach rather than asking what staff want," he says. But this ideology is slowly being pushed

out, as employers appear to recognize employees' preference for choice.

Many employees, whatever the size of the organization, are no longer content with simply

taking what they are given. "Now companies of all sizes are realizing that to be an employer of

choice they are dealing with a much more consumer-conscious set of employees. A group of

people who are used to choice don't like to be told 'take it or leave it' as they may have been in

the past," adds Thompson. Employers which realize that benefits can help to empower staff if

they are introduced effectively and offer an adequate amount of choice, are likely to enjoy

genuinely empowered worker.

Empowerment means letting go of the authority to make certain decisions. This is partly a

good management practice and partly about facing reality - the reality those modern

employees won't accept jobs where they have no say in their day to day operational decisions.

Still, old habits die hard and some managers will struggle for awhile to change their roles from

prime decision maker to facilitator. Several factors contribute to effective empowerment. Your

organizational culture must support empowerment. It won't work if managers feel threatened

by a loss of authority, for example. There is also the question of what to empower and when. In

addition, self-awareness is essential to be sure that you are not actually disempowering

employees.

Empowerment entails a more fundamental change than mere delegation. First your culture has

to adjust, and then people have to be developed to overcome their fear of acting without your

approval.

Many employees are already able to take all the responsibility you can give them. Get people

to realize how much power they have already - through their specialist skills and knowledge.

The hardest part of empowerment is changing old habits - your willingness to let go and fearful

employees to abandon their fears. Trust takes time to build - regular feedback - both to the

manager and to the empowered employee will build their confidence.

Employee empowerment is created by a loosening of the reins by employers and the passing

of trust onto employees. In practice, this means moving away from dictating how the land lies

to staff by allowing them to access information that they were not previously privy to and

offering them an extended freedom of choice. In many cases, it also represents a shift away

from the traditional relationship between employers and staff to one that is built on emotions.

The benefits of embracing this approach can result in employees feeling more commmitted to

their job and their employer.

Peter Thompson, director of the future work forum at Henley Management College, says:

"Genuinely empowered employees are happier at work. They drive down absenteeism rates

and their productivity levels are higher."

The problem is employee empowerment can be tricky to measure, because there is a

difference between staff merely being 'happy' and them being 'genuinely happy' at work. As a

result, the term 'empowerment' is often casually touted around.

"A lot of managers talk about empowering employees and then treat staff like children, saying

they have to be in at [a certain] time and so on. It is all part of allowing employees choice and

control over their conditions of work. Coming into this is the choice of the benefits that are

offered," explains Thompson.

Benefits can go a long way towards creating a sense of empowerment for employees. By

ensuring that perks are relevant for staff, and by giving them a say in the package they

receive, employers can create a genuine feeling of empowerment among employees, rather

than a relationship that is superficial and doesn't reflect what staff really feel.

One such benefit is allowing staff to work flexibly. Enabling them to manage their own work-life

balance can demonstrate an employer's trust in its workforce, which can lead to employees

feeling empowered.

The rise in importance of flexible working arrangements, which give employees the option of

managing their own hours as opposed to being forced to work a standard nine-to-five day, has

been illustrated by Roffey Park's Management agenda 2006 which revealed that 56% of

managers want to introduce flexible working.

Claire McCartney, senior researcher at Roffey Park who was involved in conducting the

research, explains: "Flexible working is an effective way of empowering employees. It builds

trust, loyalty and commitment. Even if you just afford flexibility, not everyone will take it up, but

by knowing it is available employees will go the extra mile."

Accountancy firm KPMG offers flexible working arrangements to all staff, and believes they are

an essential tool for empowering its workforce. Cheryl Curtis, reward manager, explains: "We

want to show trust and encourage employees to stay in the firm so we have options such as

early starts.

"It's about saying 'we value you, we trust you and we want you to stay'."

Many organisations, however, have yet to move away from the traditional view of flexible

working, which limits staff to simply being permitted to stagger the times they start and finish,

explains McCartney.

"There are many creative methods such as buying and selling holiday, extended and

compressed working weeks and home working," she says.

According to Thompson, home working is one of the most effective ways of imparting trust

onto employees, and thus empowering them. "That's real empowerment because it says, 'I

don't need to look over your shoulder while you are working'," he explains.

The choice involved in flexible benefits schemes also offers the scope to empower employees,

as it is an opportunity for employers to offer staff a pot of money to spend how they please.

Although, on the face of it, flex provides choice for staff, employers must be careful to provide

sufficient options for employees to select from, because they will otherwise be in danger of

limiting the capacity of such a scheme to empower staff due to this lack of choice.

Similarly, employers should also ensure that they include benefits options that employees

actually want and are prepared to take up. There is little point in selecting a range of benefits,

which staff do not utilize.

Forward-thinking employers have cottoned on to this concept and have introduced measures

such as employee councils or conducting regular staff surveys in order to ensure they are

involved in the selection process and so will actually value the benefits on offer.

Although the Information and Consultation Directive, which came into effect in April 2005 and

will affect all organizations with more than 50 staff by March 2008, requires employers, to set

up an employee works council if requested to do so, these are not obliged to discuss which

benefits staff would value. The only time when employers may be required to use a council for

this purpose is when a move involves a change to employees' terms and conditions.

KPMG has gone a step further with its Employee Business Forum which was set up to tackle,

among other issues, the benefits it offers to staff.

The forum includes representatives from different departments at the firm, while employees

who are not involved can request that certain topics are raised at meetings.

"At the forum, the elected body choose their own agenda and decide what they want to

discuss. These points are then raised with senior management," explain Curtis.

Many organisations are beginning to acknowledge the value in detaching themselves from the

benefit decision-making process, and handing the control to the end users, employees.

Gareth Jones, senior flex consultant at Aon Consulting, explains: "There is a very strong desire

now to involve employees in decision making either right from the start or as a rubber stamp to

ensure what is being introduced will work for them."

While providing different benefits options and enabling staff to work flexibly are clear ways of

offering choice to employees, there are also more subtle ways of empowering staff, and giving

them some control over benefits decisions.

Self-service HR systems, for example, are becoming more commonplace. These allow staff to

take ownership of personal information held on file relating to their benefits.

Benefits calculators and modelling tools work along similar lines. These online tools allow staff

to instantly see the value of certain benefits, and calculate both their current and future value.

For example, around company car schemes, employees can work out how much driving a

certain car will cost them in tax per month at the click of a button. Such tools can also be used

for pension scheme calculations and projections.

Christopher Hopkins, director at communication specialists Caburn Hope, explains: "You can

forecast the future, and ask 'what if I did this or did that'? You can play around with the future,

and understand your pension's value."

Giving control back to employees by enabling them to better understand and decide how to

deal with their pension is a crucial step to empowerment. Ian Buchan, brand development

manager (corporate pensions) at Standard Life, explains: "People buy with their eyes, and

when they can visually see a graph or pie chart with information about their pension scheme

they can make informed decisions. It's no longer just a letter that comes through the post once

a year."

But employers must not be scared to hand over this detail, nor underestimate employees'

knowledge of pension schemes, explains Thompson. "There is sometimes a bit of snobbery

among benefits professionals who think that if you give employees details on their pension

plan they won't understand it. But [staff] are people who buy their own life assurance policies

[and] endowment policies, so never say they won't understand their own pension," he says.

Employers can even help to empower staff around benefits by providing education to those

who are interested in making changes to their pension scheme, for example.

Mike Ashton, senior consultant at Watson Wyatt says: "True empowerment comes from

offering reward to encourage financial awareness and helping people to manage their own

lives."

As changes were made to UK pension schemes to comply with new pensions tax simplification

rules, which came into effect in April 2006, offering access to financial advice or education

became popular, as there was an increased need for staff to understand their company's

pension scheme and how it would be affected. In many cases, this empowered employees to

make their own decisions.

Yet, with any of these benefits, it is not enough for employers to merely offer them to staff and

expect to reap the rewards of a more empowered workforce. For this to occur, employees

must understand and value the importance of their packages, and the choices they have been

given.

Communication around benefits, therefore, plays an important role. While employers may

choose to offer benefits that empower staff they must also make sure that they communicate

them properly by tapping into employees' emotions. "Empowerment involves emotions and

while many employers are very good at displaying a process, there is no emotional attachment

at all," says Hopkins.

It is this crucial transition that appears to be letting a vast number of companies down, as they

are willing to provide the benefits but cannot communicate them in a way that empower staffs.

"This is endemic. There is a general lack of understanding on the transition between displaying

and then communicating effectively. It is the transition between the rational and the emotional

that is absent," adds Hopkins.

While assumptions could be made about the types of organisations that may be more effective

at empowering staff than others, there appears to be little in the way of factual data to back this

up.

Traditionally, some benefits such as flexible working have been perceived to be better suited to

smaller more robust organisations, while larger firms were thought to be less inclined to

change their well-established working practices.

"In the past, in a very paternalistic way, large employers have patted employees on the head

and said 'they won't understand anyway so we won't bother their tiny little minds with details',"

Thompson explains.

While attitudes in some quarters may be changing, there are still some human resources

departments, that believe this is the most effective way to operate, explains Aon's Jones. "I

think there is sometimes a feeling that HR knows best, a sort of 'that's what you need'

approach rather than asking what staff want," he says

But this ideology is slowly being pushed out, as employers appear to recognize employees'

preference for choice. This could be due to the effect of today's consumer-led society spilling

over into every working environment, which has forced employers to offer their staff the choice

that they may have come to expect.

Many employees, whatever the size of the organization, are no longer content with simply

taking what they are given. "Now companies of all sizes are realizing that to be an employer of

choice they are dealing with a much more consumer-conscious set of employees. A group of

people who are used to choice don't like to be told 'take it or leave it' as they may have been in

the past," adds Thompson.

Delivering quality service is considered an essential strategy for success and survival in

today’s competitive environment. The special feature of a service industry is the contact and

interaction between service providers (employees) and service acceptors (customers). The

quality of the service encounter plays an important role for the operation practice of a

corporation. Therefore, how to provide better service and retain customers is the key to

competitiveness. Jacobson and Aaker (1987) fingered out that if it could generate higher level

of customer satisfaction and loyalty for organization by offering higher level of service quality to

gain more profit. Factually, customer’s satisfaction may only be dependent upon his or her

perception about service quality in service encounter.

For meeting various demands of customers, employees of service industries should not only

behave according to the basic rules and regulations, but also offer expeditious and efficient

service to meet customers’ satisfaction. In order to achieve the above objective, how to

empower employees with appropriate discretion on their job has become an important issue in

the service industry

 In the past, a few studies have directly discussed the relationship between employee

empowerment and service quality. Sparks, Bradley and Callan [1997] reported that employees

who are fully empowered and communicate with customers in attentive manner could evoke

more customer satisfaction. Hocutt and Stone [1998] pointed out that if employees could

perform with responsiveness and enthusiasm, then customers would be more satisfied in the

process of service recovery. In the above studies, the major premise was that service failure

had happened. In addition, the authors discussed the satisfaction toward employee

empowerment from the viewpoint of the customer not that of the employee and empowerment

was defined merely as the degree of employee self-determination, which neglected the

possible influences caused by healthy environment of empowerment.

   The empowered employees might show the customer-oriented service behavior, because

they possess more elasticity and capability to match the changeable need of customers.

Farrell, Souchon and Durden [2001] indicated that customers’ perceptions of service quality

would be based almost entirely upon the service behaviors of employees. Customers specially

appreciate the service encounter while measuring service quality, therefore service behaviors

of employees reveal more important in the service delivery process. Consequently, in service

encounters, the empowered employees would present appropriate and flexible service

behaviors towards customers, and customers’ perceptions of service quality could be improved

through the service behaviors of customer-contact employees.

'Empowered' people have moved to front-stage in the rhetoric of management. Rhetoric is also

being matched by action, to judge by anecdotal reports and management surveys. One of the

latter, for example, found that 56% of the British managers questioned were planning to

empower their employees. But such statistics are not as encouraging as they seem. Clearly,

well over half the companies concerned had not yet introduced whatever they meant by

'empowerment'

They are far behind their times. It's a very old idea that employees work more effectively when

allowed to use their brains, not just their hands. The problem lies in giving deeper practical

meaning to the concept. Rob and Margaret Brown, the authors of Empowered!, illustrate the

difficulty with the very sub-title of the book: 'A practical guide to leadership in the liberated

organization'. The issue isn't only personal, a matter of the manager-managed relationship, but

deeply organizational.

In the authors' definition, 'empowerment' isn't just a matter of delegating job authority to the

job-holders. It means that 'everyone can take action to enhance his or her work, either in

personal or organizational terms'. Instead of the traditional bureaucracy, with its emphasis on

control, standardization and obedience, Brown-blessed empowerment can only thrive in the

liberated surround of innovation, flexibility, commitment, zero defects and continuous

improvement.

The Browns are by no means alone in calling for both new kinds of company and new breeds

of management. They quote copiously from gurus who sing the same song - among them

Charles Handy, whose teasingly titled The Empty Raincoat has added to his self-conscious

stature as prime prophet of the new economic age. But the gap between the gurus and reality,

between prophecy and practice, is even larger than that between the rhetoric and reality of

empowerment.

The latter is coming to pass, anyway, not because of preaching, but through practical

necessity. Service has become the increasingly decisive means of differentiation in the market

place, just as innovation has become central to having a market at all. Since the winning

difference in service and ideas can only be delivered by individuals able to act on their own

initiative, the much-trumpeted 'customer focus' must mean empowerment. Employees working

to rule won't provide the vital edge.

That's why Hal F. Rosenbluth provocatively entitles his book The Customer Comes Second.

His global business is entirely founded on service-travel management. Operating on a mixture

of business nous, experiment, reading and humane instincts, he has built remarkable

commercial success round his people principles. The approach is no different in kind from his

imaginative use of IT. Rosenbluth saw that unique software could cut his costs, give him

competitive advantage, improve customer service and generally reduce defects. He has

exactly the same motives in mobilizing, to the best of his and their ability, the talents of the

Rosenbluth employees.

The self-interest of the boss and the economic interests of the firm thus supply the joint key to

empowerment, which is itself an unfortunate word. It suggests that power belonging to

somebody else - above all, higher management - is being handed down to people who would

otherwise be powerless. The actuality is that organizations, often unwittingly, sometimes

deliberately, impede people's efforts and ability to improve their performance. The paramount

task is not to empower, but to enable. And there's the rub.Most managers come from order-

and-obey or command-and-control cultures. The Browns, in contrast, would plunge

management into unfamiliar waters, in which employees have 'not just the right but the duty to

appraise your boss'; in which it can no longer be presumed that 'the professional knows best';

in which 'information, knowledge and decision-making (and therefore power)' are distributed

'by using the technical capacity of modern information technology.'

The authors advocate these and other liberation characteristics in a very direct, convincing and

approachable manner. But the attributes are so far from current practice that you can

understand why management practitioners pay lip-service, rather than service, to

empowerment. The Browns so passionately espouse the cause that they sometimes appear to

believe in perfection. They should hearken to Handy: 'I no longer believe in a Theory of

Everything, or in the possibility of perfection.' Not that the book is impractical. On the contrary,

it provides relevant (if over-familiar) cases, coherent advice and pertinent questions (in so-

called 'workshop' boxes). It advances logically and intelligently through the liberation stages of

redistributing control, organizational learning and 'making it happen' to reach 'empowering

people' and 'the skills of empowerment'. Yet managers will probably respond less readily to

this preaching than to Rosenbluth's extended parable of a business which achieves 96% client

retention by living the belief that 'companies must put their people - not the customers - first.'

Here the rhetoric translates into a series of heterodox actions: 'A lot of people never get to see

their company's headquarters. They may never meet the top officers of the company. Here,

they do both on day ones.' Typically, though reservations are automated by an IT system

named PRECISION. This isn't exclusive to an all-powerful IT centre: 'focus groups of future

users designed what they wanted it to do', while 'an evaluation mechanism' allows

reservationists to suggest enhancements while the program is actually in use.

Paying people handsomely for 100% error-free performance, so Rosenbluth found (to his

delighted surprise), reduced operating costs by 4%. He taps employee power wherever he

can. 'Time teams' are set to 'scrutinise every procedure, process and program to answer three

burning questions: (1) 'Why do we do this?' (2) 'Do we need to do it at all?' (3) 'If so, how can

we do it better?' In this hard-driving environment, however, niceness is all.

A profiling study of reservationists showed that the correlation between excellence in tasks and

people skills was 'incredibly high'; the data, writes Rosenbluth, 'support our belief that nice

people do a better job'.

This fascinating case emphasizes, first, that the path to 'empowerment' leads through specific

behaviors: and second, that you can serve both God and Mammon. That thought is central to

Handy's philosophy. Left to themselves, he writes, today's economic forces will drive society

towards 'good jobs, expensive jobs, productive jobs, but much fewer of them.' What 'makes

good corporate sense' is worse than nonsense for those left outside the privileged circle,

stranded by the collapse of the old economic system.

You can't empower a worker who hasn't got any work. From inside the circle, an East German

quoted by Handy bemoans the passing of the four Fs ('family and friends, festivals and fun') in

favor of the four Ps ('profit and performance, pay and productivity'). The Browns and

Rosenbluth, however, would argue that the Fs and the Ps can be combined in the liberated or

people-first organization: Handy agrees on its form, pointing to today's common division into

'project teams, task-forces, small business units, clusters and work groups - smart words for

doughnuts.'

2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research in common parlance refers to the search for knowledge. It can also be defined as

scientific and systematic search for pertinent information on a specific topic. In fact, research is

an art of scientific investigation. It is also said to be the pursuit of truth with the help of study,

observation, comparison and experiment.

According to Kerlinger “Research is a systematic, controlled, empirical and critical investigation

of hypothetical propositions about the presumed relation among natural phenomenon.

A Methodology is a way in which an activity is done; it can be described as a step-by step

procedure followed in the execution of the research project. It may be understood as a science

of studying how research is done scientifically.

Stages in Research Process:

Formulating the research problem

Choice of research design

Determining sources of data

Designing data collection forms

Determining Sampling design and sampling size

Organizing and conducting the field survey

Processing and analyzing the collected data

Preparing the research report

3.1 TITLE OF THE STUDY

“A STUDY OF EMPLOYEE EMPOWERMENT IN VARIOUS

CATEGORIES OF HOTELS IN UDAIPUR CITY”

3.2 DURATION OF THE PROJECT

The duration of project is of six month only.

3.3 OBJECTIVES OF STUDY

To ascertain the degree of employee empowerment in the various hotels.

To identify the attitude of managers and employees towards empowerment.

To study the impact of organization culture on employee empowerment.

3.4 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

Ho: The attitude of manager and employee in various hotels regarding employee

empowerment is same or similar.

3.5 TYPE OF RESEARCH

To achieve the purpose of this study, a descriptive research design was used.

3.6 COLLECTION OF DATA AND SAMPLE SIZE

COLLECTION OF DATA

The study was implemented through questionnaire survey. The questionnaire is two types:

these are manager-centered and employee-centered questionnaires. Besides, the poll consists

of three sections in general. These sections are , the demographic characteristics of the

manager/employee and rest of two are the poll questions concerning the

managers/employees. The open-ended questions were not included in the questionnaire.

SAMPLE SIZE

The data analyzed in this research derived from the evaluation of 90 questionnaires applied to

the managers and employees of medium and large scale enterprises (three, four and five star

hotels) in udaipur.90 questionnaire were sent to 5 hotels, but only 80 useable responses were

received from 5 hotels. 20 of them belong to managers and 60 of them belong to employees.

3.7 SCOPE OF STUDY

EMPOWREMENT IN HOTEL INDUSTRY

The basic source of providing competitive advantage and the customer satisfaction in the hotel

enterprises is the employee. Empowerment applications play a significant role in increasing

employee’s productivity and providing organizational efficiency. Interest in employee

empowerment within the hospitality industry has been associated with some of the key themes

identified in the development of HRM generally, namely, gaining competitive advantage

through improved service quality.

Particularly, it has been held that service delivers(frontline people) play a crucial role in

determine the extent and quality of customers experience and satisfaction. Because of

consumer conscious and competitiveness, an employee in the hotel industry must take

decision simultaneously with the time of event, and must practice this decision.

These different approaches evidence a range of managerial meaning being applied which are

based on different perception of business problems, motives for introducing empowerment and

perceived benefits to be gained from empowerment. The fact that empowerment can be used

as a term to describe different initiatives provides a convenient rhetoric which suggests that

empowerment is “in principle a good thing” and produces a “win-win” situation for employee

and mangers.

Thus it is argued that empowerment must be accompanied by:

Careful employee recruitment and training to select “empower able” employees and to

inculcate the skills and attitudes conducive to exercising “acceptable”, “responsible” choice.

Performance-related pay and symbolic rewards/recognition to encourage the exercise of

responsibility and initiative.

Promoting a service-oriented organization culture and shaping employee attitudes.

The reality of empowerment

Empowerment is viewed as authority that managers grant employees

The reality is that many front line employees already have a lot of power.

Recognize their power and motivate them to channel it productively.

Employees who serve customers have the power to make or break a business.

Empowering them means acknowledging how powerful they already are.

The same applies to knowledge workers whose innovations can build your business.

In the old days when most employees did only routine jobs, they had no power other

than what managers condescended to grant them - this was called job enrichment.

Now, employees are doing the critical jobs and managers are increasingly facilitators or

coaches who need to get out of the way and let powerful employees do the business.

This is a profound shift in organizational power.

Nevertheless, it is hard for employees to fully utilize their power because the other

reality is that managers still have the power to promote or fire them.

3.8 LIMITATION OF STUDY

Every effort was made to conduct the study rigorously and to minimize bias and errors.

However, due to certain constraints some errors were unavoidable.

Some constraints were as follows:

The study was basically qualitative in nature.

All the respondents didn’t give their true feelings and views.

The study was affected by the biasness of the respondents.

3. FACTS AND FINDINGS

4.1 RESEARCH ANALYSIS

1. The degree of empowerment on which empowerment continuum lies.

Table-1

EMPOWERMENT CONTINUM DEGREE OF EMPOWERMENT

NO DECISION MAKING BUT

APPRETIARED FOR WORK

1 TO 6

INVOLVEMENT IN DECISION MAKING 7 TO 12

PARTICIPATORY DECISION MAKING 13 TO 18

CROSS FUNCTIONAL DECISION MAKING 19 TO 24

SELF DIRECTED DECISION MAKING 25 TO 30

2. Attitude score of managers in various hotels along with average. Calculated from tables1 (a to

f).

Table -2

HOTELS ATTITUDE SCORES OF MANAGERS

UDAIVILAS26.8

SHIV NIWAS23.4

CITY PALACE 23.8

GARDEN26.4

INDER RESIDENCY 21.4RAJ DARSHAN

25.8AVG 24.6

3. Attitude score of employees in various hotels along with average. Calculated from tables2 (a to

f)

Table -3

HOTELS ATTITUDE SCORES OF EMPLOYEES

UDAIVILAS 27.2

SHIV NIWAS 20.3

CITY PALACE 27.1

GARDEN 22

INDER RESIDENCY 18

RAJ DARSHAN 26.8

AVG 23.57

4 Empowerment Continuum of various hotels obtained from table-2(attitude score of employees)

with the help of table showing degree of empowerment on which empowerment continuum

lies.

Table-4

HOTELS EMPOWERMENT CONTINUM

UDAIVILAS Self Directed

SHIV NIWAS Cross Functional Decision Making

CITY PALACE Self Directed

GARDEN HOTEL Cross Functional Decision Making

INDER RESIDENCY Participatory Decision Making

RAJ DARSHAN HOTEL Self Directed

5. The chart is drawn from the above table.

Chart-1

6. The three empowerment continuums having major organization culture .There are three types

of organization culture as shown in table viz. Role-oriented, People-oriented and Task-

oriented.

Table-5

EMPOWERMENT CONTINUM ORGANIZATION CULTURE

SELF DIRECTED DECISION MAKING Role

PARTICIPATORY DECISION MAKING PeopleCROSS FUNCTIONAL DECISION MAKING People +Task

7. Various hotels having different types of organization cultures obtained from table3 (a to f).

Table-6

8. The major organization culture of various hotels obtained from above table.

Table -7

HOTELS ORGANIZATION CULTUREUDAIVILAS RolePeople Task PowerSHIV NIWAS 18 17 16 8CITY PALACE 14 16 16 4GARDEN HOTEL 18 17 15 5INDER RESIDENCY 14 15 15 6RAJ DARSHAN 13 18 12 4AVG 18 16 15 8

HOTELS MAJOR ORGANIZATION CULTURE

UDAIVILAS Role

SHIV NIWAS People + Task

CITY PALACE Role

GARDEN People + Task

INDER RESIDENCY People

RAJ DARSHAN Role

9. The chart is drawn from above table.

Chart-2

4.2 RESEARCH HYPOTHEIS

For this I have taken Null hypothesis and Alternative hypothesis respectively and at 5% level of

significance.

Ho: The attitude of manager and employee in various hotels regarding employee

empowerment is same or similar.

Ha: There is a significant difference in the attitude of manager and employee in various hotels

regarding employee empowerment.

1. Attitude score of managers in various hotels along with average. Calculated from tables1 (a to

f).

Table -2

2. Attitude score of employees in various hotels along with average. Calculated from tables2 (a to

f)

Table -3

HOTELS ATTITUDE SCORES OF EMPLOYEES

UDAIVILAS 27.2

SHIV NIWAS 20.3

CITY PALACE 27.1

GARDEN 22

INDER RESIDENCY 18

RAJ DARSHAN 26.8

HOTELS ATTITUDE SCORES OF MANAGERS

UDAIVILAS26.8

SHIV NIWAS23.4

CITY PALACE 23.8

GARDEN26.4

INDER RESIDENCY 21.4RAJ DARSHAN

25.8AVG 24.6

AVG 23.57

4. ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

The table-1 indicates the different empowerment continuum along with the degree of

empowerment which is drawn from questionnaire.

The table-2 can infer attitude score of managers in various hotels from the table which is

drawn from questionnaires. The highest and lowest score is obtained for hotel Udaivilas and in

the regency respectively.

The table-3 can infer attitude score of employees in various hotels from the table which is

drawn from questionnaires. The highest score is obtained for hotel Udaivilas and city palace,

where lowest score is obtained for in the regency.

The table-4 can infer figure out major empowerment continuum from above table. These are

self directed, cross functional decision making and participatory decision making.

From chart-1 it can concluded that major empowerment continuum along with the degree of

empowerment calculated from the data acquired from various hotels.

The table-6 can figure out the different types of organization culture which are calculated from

the data acquired from various hotels.

The table-7 shows that Udaivilas, City Palace, and Raj Darshan have role-oriented

organization culture while Shiv Niwas and Garden hotel have people-oriented as well as task-

oriented.

The value of F-test is calculated with the help of above two tables’ viz. (Attitude score of

managers and employees in various hotels) using MS-Excel and Research Methodology book.

F-test (calculated) < F-test (tabulated)

Hence Ho is accepted.

Since the calculated value is lesser than tabulated value, null hypothesis (Ho) is accepted. It

implies that managers and employees have same perception regarding attitude towards

empowerment.

F- TEST

CALCULATED VALUE 0.179

TABULATED VALUE (5%) 1.60

0.179 < 1.60

CONCLUSIONS

From the study, it can be concluded that various categories of hotel are having different

organization culture as well as degree of employee empowerment also differs.

From the theory, it is normally said that various units in a particular industry have more or less

the same organization culture but in the study, it has been revealed that the case is not same

as given in the books.

Employee empowerment to some extent is very important to enhance the satisfaction level of

employee in various categories. We cannot leave employees without empowering them.

As revealed that:

In The Oberoi Udaivilas employees have high degree of empowerment, as they are self

directed and more decisive because organization culture is more role-oriented thus

empowering them with various responsibility and authority.

The City Palace have somewhat less degree of employee empowerment, as employees are

responsible for decision making and strategy because organization culture is role-oriented with

some extent thus empowering them with various more responsibility and authority.

In the HRH group of hotels( Shiv Niwas Palace and Garden hotel), employees have cross

functional decision making teams because organization culture is people-oriented as well as

task-oriented ,thus empowering them with those activities that have an impact in making

decisions of both the culture.

In Inder Residency, employees have participatory decision making teams and also have

flexible empowerment because of people-oriented organization culture, thus empowering them

with more team–oriented activities that have support cooperation and coordination among the

departments.

In Rajdarshan hotel, employees have structured empowerment and are self directed because

of role-oriented organization culture, thus empowering them with more authority and

responsibility.

Lastly we can concluded that structured and flexible empowerment have role-oriented and

people-oriented organization culture respectively.

From the hypothesis it has been concluded that managers and employees have same

perception regarding attitude towards empowerment.

SUGGESTIONS

For 5star categories:

Two innovative practices we deemed especially pertinent for possible implementation in

a green luxury were the following:

1) Housekeeping Teams: After creating a training program for supervisors and team

leaders, the team leaders would create two trial teams of housekeepers composed of the most

enthusiastic employees. These employees would form, self-directed housekeeping teams, with

three people per team, assigned to all room duties in a given block of rooms. Within this block

they would choose their own work areas, evaluate room quality, and conduct room inspections.

2) Captain Quality: Each of the hotel’s employees takes a turn as Captain Quality, an

assignment that begins with selecting an employee to be a guest of the hotel (including dinner

for two). The employees then spend a week observing every department and submit a list of

six points of needed improvement in the hotel. The points are posted and directed to the

attention of the responsible department heads. The process then resumes the next week with

a new Captain Quality. In addition to this, employees would take training programs that focus

on employees’ responsibility to take initiative to solve problems and create a more pleasant

guest experience.

For 3star and other categories:

1. Train in areas such as communication, team building and delegation. Management must

communicate the vision of the organization and clearly explain expectations.

2. Management must show effective leadership skills, encourage initiative, and support a culture

of empowerment within their work units.

3. Employees must know which decisions they can make on their own and which decisions

require additional input or approval.

Managers must allow employees to work within the established boundaries, rather than

stepping in and micro-managing.

4. Employees need to learn to make decisions effectively and to work collaboratively with others

in an empowered environment.

This includes training in decision-making, problem-solving, open communication, and

teamwork.

5. This step could include ensuring that the proper tools, time, training, teams and financial

resources are in place to support the behavior, as well as providing access to other employees

and coaching.

6. More reward, recognize and praise employees for initiating the improvement of work

processes and for the contributions they make to the organization.

7. Encourage the development of supportive peer groups. Delegate authority through formal job

responsibilities. Build autonomy and accountability into jobs at all levels, particularly for issues

related to work processes.

One easy way to begin employee empowerment in the workplace is to install a suggestion box,

where workers can make suggestions without fear of punishment or retribution. However,

simply placing a suggestion box somewhere is only the first step. Managers must then be

willing to read and consider suggestions. They might provide a forum where questions or

suggestions receive a response, like a weekly or monthly newsletter. In addition, managers

can hold a once monthly meeting open to employees where all suggestions are addressed.

APPENDIX

The following tables show attitude scores of manager calculated from questionnaire acquired from

various hotels.

Table1 – (a)

Table1 – (b)

CITY PALACE HOTEL SCOREMANAGER ATTITUDE SCOREM1 23M2 24M3 24M4 24M5 24AVG 23.8

Table1 – (c)

UDAIVILAS HOTEL SCOREMANAGER ATTITUDE SCOREM1 27M2 27M3 25M4 25M5 30AVG 26.8

SHIV NIWAS HOTEL SCOREMANAGER ATTITUDE SCOREM1 25M2 23M3 20M4 24M5 25AVG 23.4

Table1 – (d)

Table1 – (e)

Table 1– (f)

GARDEN HOTEL SCOREMANAGER ATTITUDE SCOREM1 28M2 25M3 30M4 24M5 25AVG 26.4

INDER RESIDENCY HOTEL SCOREMANAGER ATTITUDE SCOREM1 21M2 19M3 20M4 22M5 25AVG 21.4

R AJ DARSHAN HOTEL SCOREMANAGER ATTITUDE SCOREM1 25M2 30M3 29M4 22M5 23AVG 25.8

The following tables show attitude scores of employees calculated from questionnaire acquired

from various hotels.

Table 2– (a)

Table2 – (b)

UDAIVILAS HOTEL SCOREEMPLOYEE ATTITUDE SCOREE1 30E2 25E3 27E4 25E5 30E6 29E7 27E8 26E9 28E10 25AVG 27.2

CITY PALACE HOTEL SCOREEMPLOYEE ATTITUDE SCOREE1 29E2 26E3 26E4 25E5 25E6 29E7 28E8 25E9 29E10 29AVG 27.1

Table2 – (c)

SHIV NIWAS HOTEL SCOREEMPLOYEE ATTITUDE SCOREE1 17E2 25E3 22E4 20E5 23E6 15E7 19E8 20E9 20E10 22AVG 20.3

Table2 – (d)

GARDEN HOTEL SCOREEMPLOYEE ATTITUDE SCOREE1 27E2 25E3 23E4 21E5 23E6 23E7 20E8 14E9 22E10 22AVG 22

Table2 – (e)

INDER RESIDENCY HOTEL SCOREEMPLOYEE ATTITUDE SCOREE1 20E2 18E3 25E4 15

E5 9E6 17E7 18E8 20E9 19E10 19AVG 18

Table2 – (f)

3. The following tables show different types of organization culture calculated from questionnaire

acquired from various hotels.

Table 2– (a)

Table 2– (b)

R AJ DARSHAN HOTEL SCOREEMPLOYEE ATTITUDE SCOREE1 28E2 22E3 30E4 30E5 23E6 25E7 26E8 30E9 29E10 25AVG 26.8

UDAIVILAS HOTEL

organization culture Score

Role 18

People 17

Task 16

Power 8

GARDEN HOTEL

organization culture Score

Role 14

People 15

Task 15

Power 6

Table 2– (c)

Table 2– (d)

Table 2– (e)

Table 2– (f)

CITY PALACE HOTEL

organization culture Score

Role 18

People 17

Task 15

Power 5

INDER RESIDENCY HOTEL

organization culture Score

Role 13

People 18

Task 12

Power 4

SHIV NIWAS HOTEL

organization culture Score

Role 14

People 16

Task 16

Power 4RAJ DARSHAN HOTEL

organization culture Score

Role 18

People 16

Task 15

Power 8

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR MANAGERS

Name- ____________________________________________

Department- ____________________________________________

Designation- ____________________________________________

Education Level- ____________________________________________

Gender- Male Female

Marital Status- Married Unmarried

Age Group- 20-30 30-40 40-50

Working years at

the hotel- less than 1 yr 1-3 yr

1- Never , 2-Seldom, 3-Sometimes, 4-Often, 5-Always

ATTITUDE TOWARDS EMPLOYEE EMPOWERMENT

1. Aims and targets are explained to employees; the necessary authority, resources and

information are provided.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

2. Employees can do more accurate analyses and assessment

when they are involved in the work.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

3. Diversity and difference are assessed as richness and advantages.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

4. Employees with excellent performance are congratulated

and awarded.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

5. Employees become more successful when they are granted

authority and responsibility.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

6. Employee Empowerment provides more work satisfaction.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

ROLE OF ORGANISATION CULTURE IN EMPOWERING EMPLOYEE

1. Employees should be treated equally at the work places.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

2. There is clarity in job role, responsibility and authority.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

3. Employees should be given the freedom to participate in the decision making of the

organization.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

4. Organization provides clarity in understanding vision, mission and long term strategies.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

5. Management has created an open and comfortable work environment.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

6. Organization culture gets support and teamwork from

other areas within the hotel.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

7. Employees should free to make decisions necessary for effectively accomplishing my routine

day-to-day duties and responsibilities.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

8. Employees should make decisions when resolving non-routine situations or issues.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

9. Employees should receive encouragement to come up with and implement new and better

ways for improving the organization.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

10.Employees should have the opportunity to influence the way my department’s goals are

established.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

11. Employees should have been invited to participate in teams/committees that influence

decisions for my department or the company as a whole.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

12.Employees should competent in performing duties.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

13. Results are the basis of assessment of effectiveness.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

14.Decisions are normally made at the top and then communicated downwards.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

15.Employees are usually required to accomplish the assigned task within the deadlines fixed for

them.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

16.Employees have to follow format rules and policies.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR EMPLOYEES

Name- ____________________________________________

Department- ____________________________________________

Designation- ____________________________________________

Education Level- ____________________________________________

Gender- Male Female

Marital Status- Married Unmarried

Age Group- 20-30 30-40 40-50

Permanency of Permanent staff Trainee Part time

employee

1- Never , 2-Seldom , 3-Sometimes , 4-Often , 5-Always

ATTITUDE REGARDING EMPLOYEE EMPOWERMENT

1. My managers encourage us to propose new ideas and different opinion.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

2. I have support from my managers concerning the job I do.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

3. I am provided with all resources and opportunity necessary for my job.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

4. My success at work is being appreciated and I am adequately rewarded.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

5. My managers encourage me to generate new and innovative ideas.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

6. I can find solutions for my problems concerning my job; I can make decisions and apply them.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

ROLE OF ORGANISATION CULTURE IN EMPOWERING EMPLOYEE

1. I am allowed to make decisions necessary for effectively accomplishing my routine day-to-day

duties and responsibilities.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

2. I am allowed to make decisions when resolving non-routine situations or issues.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

3. I receive encouragement to come up with and implement new and better ways for improving

the organization.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

4. I have the opportunity to influence the way my department’s goals are established.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

5. I have been invited to participate in teams/committees that influence decisions for my

department or the company as a whole.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

6. I am competent in performing my duties.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

7. My work had impact on the organization; could trust my co-employees and supervisors.

8. Employees should be treated equally at the work places.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

9. Employees should be given the freedom to participate in the decision making of the

organization.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

10.Organization provides clarity in understanding vision, mission and long term strategies.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

11.There is clarity in job role, responsibility and authority.

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

Never Always

12.Management has created an open and comfortable work environment.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

13. Results are the basis of assessment of effectiveness.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

14.Decisions are normally made at the top and then communicated downwards.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

15.Employees are usually required to accomplish the assigned task within the deadlines fixed for

them.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

16.Employees have to follow format rules and policies.

1 2 3 4 5

Never Always

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