Empowerment as Interactions that Generate Self-Confidence: An Emotion-Sociological Analysis of Organizational Empowerment

TY - CHAP

T1 - Empowerment as Interactions that Generate Self-Confidence

T2 - An Emotion-Sociological Analysis of Organizational Empowerment

AU - Poder, Poul

PY - 2010/9/17

Y1 - 2010/9/17

N2 - 1 Introduction Empowerment, understood as the delegation of authority, the flattening of organizational hierarchy and the effort to encourage employees to work independently and creatively, is a strong and widespread ideal. Many employees in contemporary work organizations are involved in empowerment programmes (Dahl 1999: 51; Jacobsen/Thorsvik 2007: 188). However, such programmes are often unsuccessful (Wilson 2004; Edwards/Wajcman 2005), and the processes that lead to effective empowerment have not yet been sufficiently understood (Conger/Kanungo 1988; Eylon 1998: 17). This chapter aims to address this gap in understanding by theorizing how confidence and other positive emotions contribute to personal agency, which is an essential aspect of the empowerment process.                       It is generally understood that confidence – meaning faith in oneself as opposed to conceit or arrogance – is essential to empowerment. For example, DuBrien advises managers to: ‘Look for evidence of self-confidence in handling past assignments. It takes self-confidence to handle decisions on your own. (Of course, you could argue that being empowered builds self-confidence). Look for at least some past displays of self-confidence’ (DuBrien 2000: 228f.). That one should look for past signs of self-confidence indicates that self-confidence in present efforts cannot be taken for granted. Moreover, the suggestion that being formally and structurally empowered builds self-confidence is not self-evident, since employees do not necessarily feel confident just because authority has been formally delegated to them (Brooks 2003). Furthermore, the fact that employees in hierarchical organization can act in empowered ways, while employees in formally empowered organizations may feel disempowered (Spreitzer 2008), proves that structural empowerment alone does not necessarily generate confidence. Like other empowerment researchers, however, DuBrien does not theorize the generation of confidence (e.g. Blanchard et al. 1999). The present chapter thus shows how confidence is not properly theorized by either the socio-structural or the psychological approaches, which are the two main ones within empowerment theory. Both are limited, one by taking confidence for granted and the other by understanding it exclusively in psychological terms. In order to advance our understanding of confidence, the present chapter suggests how it is generated by particular social interactions that promote recognition and access to relevant resources for action. Drawing on emotion-focused sociological theory about agency and emotional energy, and Fredrickson’s ‘build and broaden’ theory of positive emotions, I argue that the focus on consciousness and intentionality as the defining features of human agency has led us to downplay the fact that agency is primarily an emotional phenomenon. As such, it is also dynamic and situational, since it is highly dependent on interactions that engender emotional energy and positive emotions that fuel and widen agency. As an example of such positive emotions, I focus in particular on confidence, a crucial factor in empowerment, since employees who are required to work independently and creatively must have confidence in themselves. On the basis of this interactional understanding of how agency is generated by particular interactions, the chapter will explain the unresolved paradox mentioned above.                       In pursuit of this central aim I begin, first, by criticizing the existing theories of empowerment for failing to explain how confidence is generated, then I outline an interactional framework that supplements the mainstream structural or psychological approaches to empowerment theory. Second, I illustrate this alternative theory by presenting a few examples from a case analysis of organizational empowerment within a large international company (Poder 2004). Third, I discuss the implications of this theoretical contribution to our understanding of empowerment. By theorizing confidence as an emotion generated through interaction, I show that empowerment cannot be defined solely in structural terms (i.e. in terms of the amount of authority delegated) or in psychological terms (i.e. in terms of the extent to which employees perceive themselves as being in control of things). Rather, empowerment should be understood as the ongoing interactional generation of confidence as a necessary factor in enabling employees to act independently and creatively. Moreover, in presenting the generation of confidence as a fundamental social process, to be found in both hierarchical and non-hierarchical relationships, I show that empowerment is not essentially defined by the absence of hierarchical relationships. Finally, the conclusion emphasizes that confidence cannot be taken for granted, which is why it is crucial to investigate the extent to which interactional efforts to create empowerment succeed (or otherwise) in engendering confidence. The chapter can thus be seen as a theoretical contribution to a relational understanding of empowerment, one which draws on the sociology of emotions to highlight the essentially emotional dimensions of agency.

AB - 1 Introduction Empowerment, understood as the delegation of authority, the flattening of organizational hierarchy and the effort to encourage employees to work independently and creatively, is a strong and widespread ideal. Many employees in contemporary work organizations are involved in empowerment programmes (Dahl 1999: 51; Jacobsen/Thorsvik 2007: 188). However, such programmes are often unsuccessful (Wilson 2004; Edwards/Wajcman 2005), and the processes that lead to effective empowerment have not yet been sufficiently understood (Conger/Kanungo 1988; Eylon 1998: 17). This chapter aims to address this gap in understanding by theorizing how confidence and other positive emotions contribute to personal agency, which is an essential aspect of the empowerment process.                       It is generally understood that confidence – meaning faith in oneself as opposed to conceit or arrogance – is essential to empowerment. For example, DuBrien advises managers to: ‘Look for evidence of self-confidence in handling past assignments. It takes self-confidence to handle decisions on your own. (Of course, you could argue that being empowered builds self-confidence). Look for at least some past displays of self-confidence’ (DuBrien 2000: 228f.). That one should look for past signs of self-confidence indicates that self-confidence in present efforts cannot be taken for granted. Moreover, the suggestion that being formally and structurally empowered builds self-confidence is not self-evident, since employees do not necessarily feel confident just because authority has been formally delegated to them (Brooks 2003). Furthermore, the fact that employees in hierarchical organization can act in empowered ways, while employees in formally empowered organizations may feel disempowered (Spreitzer 2008), proves that structural empowerment alone does not necessarily generate confidence. Like other empowerment researchers, however, DuBrien does not theorize the generation of confidence (e.g. Blanchard et al. 1999). The present chapter thus shows how confidence is not properly theorized by either the socio-structural or the psychological approaches, which are the two main ones within empowerment theory. Both are limited, one by taking confidence for granted and the other by understanding it exclusively in psychological terms. In order to advance our understanding of confidence, the present chapter suggests how it is generated by particular social interactions that promote recognition and access to relevant resources for action. Drawing on emotion-focused sociological theory about agency and emotional energy, and Fredrickson’s ‘build and broaden’ theory of positive emotions, I argue that the focus on consciousness and intentionality as the defining features of human agency has led us to downplay the fact that agency is primarily an emotional phenomenon. As such, it is also dynamic and situational, since it is highly dependent on interactions that engender emotional energy and positive emotions that fuel and widen agency. As an example of such positive emotions, I focus in particular on confidence, a crucial factor in empowerment, since employees who are required to work independently and creatively must have confidence in themselves. On the basis of this interactional understanding of how agency is generated by particular interactions, the chapter will explain the unresolved paradox mentioned above.                       In pursuit of this central aim I begin, first, by criticizing the existing theories of empowerment for failing to explain how confidence is generated, then I outline an interactional framework that supplements the mainstream structural or psychological approaches to empowerment theory. Second, I illustrate this alternative theory by presenting a few examples from a case analysis of organizational empowerment within a large international company (Poder 2004). Third, I discuss the implications of this theoretical contribution to our understanding of empowerment. By theorizing confidence as an emotion generated through interaction, I show that empowerment cannot be defined solely in structural terms (i.e. in terms of the amount of authority delegated) or in psychological terms (i.e. in terms of the extent to which employees perceive themselves as being in control of things). Rather, empowerment should be understood as the ongoing interactional generation of confidence as a necessary factor in enabling employees to act independently and creatively. Moreover, in presenting the generation of confidence as a fundamental social process, to be found in both hierarchical and non-hierarchical relationships, I show that empowerment is not essentially defined by the absence of hierarchical relationships. Finally, the conclusion emphasizes that confidence cannot be taken for granted, which is why it is crucial to investigate the extent to which interactional efforts to create empowerment succeed (or otherwise) in engendering confidence. The chapter can thus be seen as a theoretical contribution to a relational understanding of empowerment, one which draws on the sociology of emotions to highlight the essentially emotional dimensions of agency.

M3 - Book chapter

SN - 9780230250154

SP - 106

EP - 125

BT - Emotionalizing Organizations and Organizing Emotions

A2 - Sieben, Barbara

A2 - Wettergren, Åsa

PB - Palgrave Macmillan

CY - Houndmills

ER -