AN ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPACT OF EMPOWERMENT AND DELEGATION ON EMPLOYEE MORALE AND PRODUCTIVITY

CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

INTRODUCTION

Our focus in this chapter is to critically examine relevant literature that would assist in explaining the research problem and furthermore recognize the efforts of scholars who had previously contributed immensely to similar research. The chapter intends to deepen the understanding of the study and close the perceived gaps.

Precisely, the chapter will be considered in three sub-headings:

• Conceptual Framework
• Theoretical Framework

2.1 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Concept Of Empowerment

In the USA, the first formal study of empowerment dates back to Mary Parker Follett‟s management ideas. She distinguished between “power-with” and “power-over” and suggested the process of integration to increase power-with while decreasing power-over. The human relations movement had a great impact on employee empowerment. The Hawthorne studies concluded that the workers were more responsive to social situations than to management controls. Nowadays, empowerment is the center of attention in 21 century‟s organization. It says. If employee‟s empowerment is managed correctly, can cause organizational commitment and reduction of employee‟s replacement. Empowerment with confidence making, participation in decision making, and elimination of the border line between management and employee, cause increase of productivity, performance and job satisfaction. Klagge J. (1998) sees the literature in a way indicating the meaning of empowerment as to release improved „power and authority‟ along with the relevant duties and expertise to employees. Empowerment seems to be a powerful management tool, which is used to exchange the shared vision that the organization expects to materialize into common goals. The reality is that empowerment could be utilized as an expression to explain diverse plans providing an expedient oratory, advocating that empowerment is hypothetically a fine object that fabricates a „win-win‟ condition for workers and administrators. Empowerment has been defined in numerous ways, but most authors agree that the core element of empowerment involves giving employees a discretion (or latitude) over certain task related activities. Randolph (1995) defines employee empowerment as “a transfer of power” from the employer to the employees. Blanchard et al. (1996) for instance argued that empowerment is not only having the freedom to act, but also having higher degree of responsibility and accountability. This indicates that management must empower their employees so that they can be motivated, committed, satisfied and assist the organization in achieving its objectives. Mohammed et al. (1998) states that empowerment is a state of mind. An employee with an empowered state of mind experiences feelings of

1. control over the job to be performed,
2. awareness of the context in which the work is performed,
3. accountability for personal work output,
4. shared responsibility for unit and organizational performance, and

5) equity in the rewards based on individual and collective performance. Rodwell (1996), Hage and Lorensen (2005) label empowerment as an „enabling process‟ or an object occurs from a joint allocation of possessions and prospects which boost „decision making‟ to accomplish change. Luke, Rappaport, and Seidman(2010) suggested that empowerment is more than a mere process, solution, or exemplar as is, for instance, prevention. Instead, they posit that empowerment is the process to which the primary energies of psychologists, counselors, social workers, and others should be directed and through which most of the goals for social and individual change will be most appropriately accomplished. Employee empowerment refers to the delegation of power and responsibility from higher levels in the organizational hierarchy to lower level employees, especially the power to make decisions [Baird, 2010]. Employee empowerment will lead to improving productivity, performance and job satisfaction (Nick et al., 1994). Employee empowerment has been associated with the concept of power, implying that power in organization should be re-shared from the top management to the lower management

Concept Of Delegation

Delegation of authority is one of modern trends practiced by managers. It is function stands out contributing and increasing the level of motivation of employees and achieving positive returns for (an organization with a manager) and (an employee with a customer) both. On the level of an organization, it achieves competitive advantage, knowledge inventory, increases the level of productivity and speed in finalizing tasks effectively. On the level of manager, it alleviates functional burdens, gains employees' satisfaction and builds cooperation and trust between manger and employees giving a chance for manger to have full-time for realization more important work. So, it reduces physical and intellectual efforts exerted by manager and other employees. On the level of an employee, it works on achieving functional empowerment, constructing alternative and administrative leadership, making employees feel self-confidence and motivation for Excellency in performance. On the level of customer, it meets the needs of customers rapidly, delivering or providing the service will not be delayed due to delegation authority. Giving the customer a higher level of care and attention, building customer's perceived and creating loyalty and mutual respect for an organization and production in which the organization produced. It can be said that method of delegation authority becomes inevitable issue for every organization whether in public or private sector. It is not optional due to many reasons has connected and brought developments and changes to the organizations including that (increasing its size and diversity of its products, multiplicity of its products and spread of its branches in different geographical zones and different local, regional and international levels. Managers have been imposed for the necessity to have a way for helping them in facilitating business affairs and alleviating the burdens in which they aren’t tolerated, implemented and controlled by a manger. From other hand, different social and environmental transformations at organization have been changed since of classical school that was differentiated by centralism and subjecting to orders of mangers without reluctance. Implementing processes and procedures become more flexible, and free due to employees. The results of applying this principle has helped employees to be enhanced, imposed different functional rights for them, and necessity to transform from dictatorship to democracy associates with modern trends of management and employees' desires and wishes. In addition, managers will be able to maintain their job position and preserve the process of facilitating business affairs, employees' loyalty, enabling to be remained and achieving performance efficiency.

Reluctance To Delegation

The unwillingness of the manager to delegate is based on certain belief and attitude which are personnel. According to griffin (1996) some managers may worry that subordinates will do too well and pose a threat to their own advancement. Belief in the fallacy: “if you want it done right do it yourself” manager’s belief that a delegate can hardly do a task perfectly like the real holder of the task. According to Robert Kreiter(2001) some superior may feel insecure to delegate authority due to fear for the loss of his power and competition from the subordinates, Delegation makes the process of decision making slow and long, this is because the dean of authority is delegated therefore a lot of consultation is required, Rue Bya rs( 2000) The size of the organization: With delegation there is need for uniform policy, in a company where there is need for a uniform policy in terms of planning and action; delegation may not be the right philosophy of management. Delegation will be possible only where there is an enterprise which is large and lends itself to departments and division. Ashok Kumar( 1999) The importance of the duty/decision: the more important a duty or a decision is as expressed in terms of cost and impact on the future of the organization determines its probability for delegations. Managers rarely delegate the most important duties for the fear of mistakes because even the slightest mistake done on such issues can be harmful to the organization Owalabi J (2005).

• Task Complexity:

some tasks are very complex making it difficult for top management to posses current and sufficient technical information to make effective decisions. Complex tasks require greater expertise and should be delegated to the people who have the necessary technical skills. This makes the management not to delegate until they are sure of the subordinate potential for the duty. David .A. Decenzo(2001) Qualities of employees: delegation requires employees with the skills, abilities and motivation to accept authority and act on it. If these are lacking, top management will be reluctant to relinquish authority.

• Organization culture:

if management has confidence and trust in employees, the culture will support a great degree of delegation. However if top management does not have confidence in done.

Principles of Delegation

According to Chandan (2006) one should be effective in his work in order to delegate. This should involve the adherence of the principles of delegation. They include: Functional clarity: before delegating any task to a subordinate, the manager is expected to define the task that needs to be delegated This leads to having a clear picture of what is to be done whereby the manager can now determine the means to perform the tasks, the methods of operations and the results expected which must clearly be defined. The authority delegated must be clearly defined. The authority delegated must be adequate to ensure that these functions are well performed.

• Matching authority with responsibility:

delegation involves the transfer of authority. Responsibility and authority are highly interconnected; therefore authority should be adequate and should not only match the duties to be performed but also the personal capabilities of subordinates.

• Unity of command:

this refers to the number of people a subordinate is entitled to report to. According to this principle, a subordinate should be responsible to only one superior who is delegating the authority in the first place.

• Principle of communication:

communication is the passing of information from one person to the other. This principle emphasizes on the establishment of clear channels of communication throughout the organization and especially when delegation is taking place. A misunderstood responsibility can be dangerous hence general authority must be clearly specified, openly communicated and properly understood. Management by exception. According to this principle, the subordinate must take decision and take action whenever they can, and should only refer matter of such nature to their superior which are outside their domain of authority. This principle reflects on qualification of subordinates.

Employee Morale

Building positive employee morale is not difficult, but it takes desire, commitment, and attention on the part of management and the organization treat employees fairly and consistently, treat employees with respect, treat employees as if they matter as your organization’s most significant resources, provide regular employee recognition, provide feedback and coaching, and offer employees the opportunity to develop their skills and their careers.

Significance Of Employee Morale In The Organization

1. An explanation to employees on why a manager is no longer with the company and then encourages the staff to move on with the manager replacement.
2. Morale can be negatively impacted if employees feel that the company offers no career path with advancement and if the company does not offer some kind of rewards for employee’s loyalty and dedications.
3. To maintain morale communication line need to remain open and important information needs to be delivered in a timely fashion. For example: if A small number layoffs are being planned then it is important to communicate the magnitude of the layoffs to employees so that rumors do not get spread that could shatter morale
4. Lying off employees usually have a negative impact on morale but allowing employees that are not scheduled to be laid off to believe that they could damage morale even future.

Benefits And Limition Of Employee Morale

Good employee morale generally means that workers are happy to come to work each day comfortable in the nature of their work and with their co-workers and optimistic about their production.

• Reduced absenteeism

Absent employees cost organization thousands of dollars in missed production or lower revenue employee who miss less work are less likely to fall behind and easily get over whelmed in carrying out their roles. They also experiences more positive relationship with colleagues which can help in minimize stress. 

• Collaboration

In one on one interaction and in work term, positive morale is likely to increase the level of collaboration among workers, if you have a high morale environment, worker likely greater comfort with other and a willingness to work together towards goals. 

• Esteem and satisfaction

With high morale and greater levels of production, manager and employees tend to have high self esteem. When you produce good results and have them recognized you tend to want to repeat the experiences. Employees generally prefer an organization that enhance feeling of esteem and provide a meaningful, satisfactory work experiences. 

• Better Production

When employees feel positive and enjoy the work environment, their production is normally higher. For managers, this helps in achieving departmental and organizational objectives. As an employee, higher levels of production can often lead to increased compensation and promotion opportunities.

Effects Of Employee Morale

Manager need to spend time communicating their vision to ensure it understood, effective manger communicated widely and allow their message to be discussed in a person or at staff meeting. To ensure commitment and increased morale in economic uncertainty , manager need to energizer their employee by acting enthusiastically and optimistically about the future this heightens levels of motivation and helps employee recognize the importance of their work while encouraging a goal oriented, ambitions, determination working style.

Concept Of Productivity

Productivity differs from production. Production refers to an increase in output over a given period of time; productivity is concerned with the ratio of output to an input. Many writers explain productivity in terms of this ratio with little further elaboration. "Productivity is the quantitative relationship between what we produce and the resources we use" (Ogbonnaya,2020)). "The volume of output which is achieved in a given period in relationship to the sum of the direct and indirect effort expended in its production" (Steer, 2019). Productivity ratios usually relate units of one single input, for example $'s labor cost, number of worker days or total cost, to one single output, for example financial measures such as profit or added value, or physical measures such as tonnes produced or standard minutes of work produced. These ratios in themselves and the definitions given take no account of efficiency, a concept important in evaluating productivity. Efficiency Efficiency takes this aspect of productivity into account and makes comparisons to some known potential. Traditional labor measures of productivity where standard hours are compared to productive hours give good examples of efficiency measures, as they give both an index of labor productivity as well as a concept of how well labor is working or being utilized. Such measures show whether organizations are 'doing things right', but they give no indication of whether an organization is doing the 'right things'.

Measurement of productivity

Productivity is commonly defined as a ratio of a volume measure of output to a volume measure of input use. While there is no disagreement on this general notion, a look at the productivity literature and its various applications reveals very quickly that there is neither a unique purpose for, nor a single measure of, productivity. The objectives of productivity measurement include:

• Technology

A frequently stated objective of measuring productivity growth is to trace technical change. Technology has been described as “the currently known ways of converting resources into outputs desired by the economy” (Guion, 2018) and appears either in its disembodied form (such as new blueprints, scientific results, new organizational techniques) or embodied in new products (advances in the design and quality of new vintages of capital goods and intermediate inputs). In spite of the frequent explicit or implicit association of productivity measures with technical change, the link is not straightforward.

• Efficiency

The quest for identifying changes in efficiency is conceptually different from identifying technical change. Full efficiency in an engineering sense means that a production process has achieved the maximum amount of output that is physically achievable with current technology, and given a fixed amount of inputs (Guion, 2018). Technical efficiency gains are thus a movement towards “best practice”, or the elimination of technical and organizational inefficiencies. Not every form of technical efficiency makes, however, economic sense, and this is captured by the notion of allocation efficiency, which implies profit-maximizing behaviour on the side of the firm. One notes that when productivity measurement concerns the industry level, efficiency gains can either be due to improved efficiency in individual establishments that make up the industry or to a shift of production towards more efficient establishments.

• Real cost savings

A pragmatic way to describe the essence of measured productivity change. Although it is conceptually possible to isolate different types of efficiency changes, technical change and economies of scale, this remains a difficult task in practice. Productivity is typically measured residual and this residual captures not only the above-mentioned factors but also changes in capacity utilization, learning-by-doing and measurement errors of all kinds. Cole,(2017) re-stated the point that there is a myriad of sources behind productivity growth and labeled it the real cost savings. In this sense, productivity measurement in practice could be seen as a quest to identify real cost savings in production.

The distinction and identification of technical change and efficiency change is at the heart of “data envelopment analysis”a mathematical programming approach towards productivity measurement that was pioneered by Rolf Färe. For a survey of DEA methodologies.Miller, (2017) also discuss the DEA approach and compare it to the more traditional index number and econometric approaches. A recent application can be found in Hays, (2019).

• Benchmarking production processes

In the field of business economics, comparisons of productivity measures for specific production processes can help to identify inefficiencies. Typically, the relevant productivity measures are expressed in physical units (e.g. cars per day, passenger-miles per person) and highly specific. This fulfills the purpose of factory-tofactory comparisons, but has the disadvantage that the resulting productivity measures are difficult to combine or aggregate.

• Living standards

Measurement of productivity is a key element towards assessing standards of living. A simple example is per capita income, probably the most common measure of living standards: income per person in an economy varies directly with one measure of labour productivity, value added per hour worked. In this sense, measuring labour productivity helps to better understand the development of living standards. Another example is the long-term trend in multifactor productivity (MFP). This indicator is useful in assessing an economy’s underlying productive capacity (“potential output”), itself an important measure of the growth possibilities of economies and of inflationary pressures.

The Relationship Between Delegation And Performance

According to Jackson (2002) Performance is the amount of initiations, direction and persistence one applies in his work. Performance is judged on out put of an individual. The concept performance has been expressed by Chuck Williams as follows “performance means both behaviors and results. Behaviors emanate from the performer and transform performance from abstraction to action. Not just the instruments for results, behaviors are also outcomes in their own erwiuright-the product of mental and physical effort applied to tasks and can be judged apart from results. According to Gomez Mejia & Balkin (2000):delegation of authority stimulates innovation and risk taking by letting individuals control resource and engage in experimentation without having to obtain the approval of higher authorities. Besides that delegation permits great utilization of the talent and abilities of subordinates and makes them to be the needs of the organization this leads to the improvement in performance of both the employee and the organization. Delegation leads to enhancement of prompt action as no consultation is needed before decisions are made. This results to performance improvement as duties are done and completed fast. Griffin W.R (2002) Performance improves as a result of delegation because the superiors perform higher levels of work, The decisions are also made at the lowest competent levels. Delegation helps the subordinates develop themselves professionally by doing challenging tasks. This makes them become competent.Due to delegation better decisions are made at lower levels of the organization close to where the problems arise leading to a general improvement in performance throughout the organization. Snell A.S (1997) According to chuck (2003) delegation improves workers ability to perform the tasks by providing sufficient information and resources, That is empowering workers by permanently passing decision making and responsibility to subordinate through giving information and resources they need to make and carry out good decisions. Delegation leads to decisions being made right away or at near the centre of operation as soon as the situation demands. For instance budgeting at lower level, lower officer may generate a budget with the provision of accurate information of the required particulars. This saves time while implementation is being done. This is seen as an improvement in performance due to delegation. Owalabi (2006) Delegation being a training and development tool as said by Chandan (2006) leads to the organization having skilled and competent employees who can take up senior position incase a vacant occurs. Lower level managers face challenges and in dealing with the tasks granted to them and this prepares them for problem solving process when they reach a high executive level. According to Peter L J and Hull, Pan Book 1970 there is facilitation in identification and assessment of performance in detailed manner. It encourages initiative, stimulates job satisfaction and improves morale by providing individuals with more control over their work

2.2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

The study was guided by the Follet theory which is a behavioral view point of management contributed by Mary Parker Follet (1868-1933). According to her management is believed to be a flowing continuous process, not a static one, and that if a problem has been solved, the method used to solve it probably generated new problems. She stressed on involvement of workers in solving problems and the dynamics of management rather than static principles.

She studied how managers did their jobs by observing them at work and based on her observations she concluded that coordination is vital to effective management. She developed four principles of coordination for managers to apply.

(a) Coordination is best achieved when the people responsible for making a decision are in direct contact.

(b) Coordination during the early stages of planning and project implementation is essential.

(c) Coordination should address all the factors in a situation

(d) Coordination must be worked at continuously.

Follet believed that people closest to the action could make the best decisions. For example, she was convinced that first line managers are in the best position to coordinate production tasks. And by increasing communication among themselves and with workers these managers can make better decisions regarding such tasks than the managers up the hierarchy can. She also believed that first Line managers should not only plan and coordinate workers activities, but also involve them in the process. Simply because managers told employees to do something a certain way, they shouldn’t assume it done, she argued that all managers at all levels should maintain a good relationship with their subordinates and involve them in all activities of the organization.

Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory

Herzberg's Two Factor Theory or known as Motivation-Hygiene Theory is one of the ways to identify intrinsic components that contribute to satisfaction and dissatisfaction of the workers (Rudez, 2007). The groups of motivation components in this theory are motivators' factor and hygiene factors. Motivators' factor function is to increase job satisfaction while hygiene factors are to decrease job satisfaction. Motivators' factor relates to the job content of the work itself. It is an attempt to motivate individual to work harder and perform towards higher standard such as achievement, recognition, and advancement. Hygiene factors concerned with the job environment and are external to the job itself such as company policy, work conditions, salary and job security (Herzberg, Mausner & Snyderman, 1957).

McGregor Theory X and Theory Y

McGregor (1969) suggested that management is given a task to guide people's actions and efforts in order to fulfil the organizational objectives. McGregor then suggested that employers have two thoughts correlated with their assumptions of the nature of employees. These assumptions were known as Theory X and Theory Y. Theory X, he states four assumptions about employees. The assumptions were the employee being lazy and try to avoid work, the force must be used to make them work, employees avoid responsibility and have zero ambition and put security above all factors related with work (McGregor, 1969). Theory X is an improper method to measure motivation because the nature of employees as presumed are consequences of management practice and not by the nature of human beings.

McGregor (1969) then state that theory Y is based on the true assumptions of human nature, which are employees enjoy work and think of it as a normal part of life. They also work with minimal supervision if dedicated to achieve organizational goals and learn to accept responsibility and have the capability to make a decision even though they are not in managerial positions (Latham, 2007).Theory Y can be used in the job enlargement concept as it inspires lower level employees to take responsibility and provides chances for employees to satisfy their social and self-seeking needs (McGregor, 1969). Theory Y also can be used in order to include the employees in the decision-making process (Latham, 2007).

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Theory Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory is a theory introduced by Abraham Maslow that is based on the satisfaction of human needs to achieve motivation. The needs of motivation are physiological needs, safety needs, social needs, esteem needs and self-actualization needs. Firstly, physiological needs are the most essential such as foods, shelter, and clothing. These needs can be possessed by receiving salary and wages and ensuring a safe working environment. Secondly, safety needs refer to physical and economic protection. The employer can fulfil this need by providing benefits such as retirement plans. Thirdly, social needs are the need for an individual to feel belong or accepted by others.

Employees want to have a good relationship with others in order to participate in teamwork. Fourthly, esteem needs are the needs to get recognition from others such as the value in the society that eventually lead to acquiring self-respect and status. Lastly, self-actualization refers to an individual's drive towards attaining their potential and self-satisfaction (McGregor, 1969). The hierarchy of needs theory shows that the needs that have been fulfilled are no longer provides enough appeal to motivate employees. When the lower needs are satisfied to a certain level, the dominance of the higher-order needs is initiated. So, if the managers want to motivate employees, they need to know at what level of the hierarchy the employee currently is targeting. Then, the manager can focus on preparing the opportunity to fulfil the needs at that stage or above it .

Expectancy Theory of Motivation

A mathematical model has been developed by Victor Vroom as an explanation of motivation in an organization known as the expectancy theory. This theory focuses on the results of a person's effort and not on the needs of the person. The theory states that the intensity of a tendency to perform in a particular manner is dependent on the intensity of an expectation that the performance will be followed by a definite outcome and on the appeal of the outcome to the individual. He managed to come up with three variables that are important for motivation namely, valence, instrumentality, and expectancy. The expectancy theory emphasized that employee’s motivation is an outcome of how much an individual wants a reward (Valence), the assessment that the likelihood that the effort will lead to expected performance (Expectancy) and the belief that the performance will lead to reward (Instrumentality). In short, valence is defined as a value of results of work, while expectancy is one's belief that effort will bring to certain results and instrumentality is the belief that link one results to another. In addition, valence is the significance associated by an individual about the expected outcome. It is an expected and not the actual satisfaction that an employee expects to receive after achieving the goals. Expectancy is the faith that better efforts will result in better performance.

Expectancy is influenced by factors such as possession of appropriate skills for performing the job, availability of right resources, availability of crucial information and getting the required support for completing the job (Vroom, 1964). This description of employee motivation is acknowledged widely because most of the evidence supports the theory. The theory believes that employees willing to work with a high level of effort as it will lead to desired results . This theory implicated that the managers can correlate the preferred outcomes to the aimed performance levels. Thus managers must ensure that the employees can achieve the aimed performance levels and deserving employees must be rewarded for their exceptional performance.