An interactional perspective on perceived empowerment: the role of personal needs and task context

Transcription

1 Int. J. of Human Resource Management 17:5 May An interactional perspective on perceived empowerment: the role of personal needs and task context Alice H.Y. Hon and Roger B. Rensvold Abstract This study examines the influence of individual needs and task characteristics on a multifaceted definition of perceived empowerment using an interactional perspective. Respondents were Hong Kong Chinese employees and most of them lower-level or nonmanagerial level workers in business organizations. We used regression analyses to test a number of hypotheses informed by social psychology theories. The significant findings indicate that perceived empowerment is predicted by individual characteristics (need for achievement, need for power), task situations (receipt of task feedback, competency-based reward system, participation in goal setting) and their interactions. Limitations of the study and implications for future research are discussed. Keywords Perceived empowerment; interactional perspective; individual needs; task characteristics. Introduction In the past 20 years, employee empowerment has received tremendous attention among scholars and practitioners (Block, 1987; Conger and Kanungo, 1988; Randolph, 1995; Thomas and Velthouse, 1990). Empowerment has been defined as increased task motivation resulting from an individual s positive orientation to his or her work role (Spreitzer, 1995). It is essentially involved empowerment conditions or practices (e.g. participation in decision making, task autonomy) that enhance an individual s experience of empowerment. Many academic studies have begun to develop comprehensive models of empowerment, using demographics, job design, personal factors, and relational and social structural variables (e.g. Koberg et al., 1999; Spreitzer, 1996; Thorlakson and Murray, 1996) along with such immediate outcomes as work satisfaction, job performance, organizational commitment (Liden et al., 2000; Spence Laschinger et al., 2004), intrinsic motivation (Gagne et al., 1997), managerial effectiveness (Spreitzer et al., 1997), and organizational innovation (Spreitzer, 1995). Although this work has provided considerable evidence regarding empowerment, the interactions between individuals and situations (i.e. empowerment conditions), factors affecting perceived empowerment have scarcely been studied. Such interactions may lead to different work outcomes. Perceived empowerment in the current study reflects Alice H.Y. Hon, Department of Management, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong, PRC (tel: (852) ; fax: (852) ; ;mgaliceh@ cityu.edu.hk). Roger B. Rensvold, Department of Management, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Hong Kong, PRC (tel: (852) ; mgrr@cityu.edu.hk). The International Journal of Human Resource Management ISSN print/issn online q 2006 Taylor & Francis DOI: /

2 960 The International Journal of Human Resource Management individuals internal reactions to their work environment. It is argued that acceptance of empowerment by workers should be influenced by both personal and situational factors, and the joint effects of such factors. Interactionists have argued that an individual s perceptions and behaviours in an organization change both the situation and the person over time (Bandura, 1991; Bowers, 1973; Schneider, 1983; Terborg, 1981). It is the balance between situational characteristics and individual needs that characterizes this interactionist perspective. The perspective supports the notion that the person and the situation both affect perceived empowerment, and makes the person task interaction a rich but underspecified territory for empowerment research. The emergence of a dominant empowerment concept in the literature has been using either individual or situational factors (e.g. Kraimer et al., 1999; Spreitzer, 1996; Stahl, 1983; Vardi, 2000). In short, we know surprisingly little about how interactional processes play out in organizational behaviour research, in particular which may accentuate or inhibit the success of empowerment schemes. This paper reports the results of a preliminary study of perceived empowerment in an Asian context, using an interactional approach. The term of empowerment refers to its psychological aspects. It attempts to make the following contributions. First it formulates and tests specific hypotheses concerning interactions between individual and situational aspects of empowerment. Second, it expands empowerment research, previously conducted using only Western samples (e.g. Spreitzer, 1995, 1996) by utilizing a sample of Chinese subjects in Hong Kong. We believe the Chinese perspective is particularly important. The recent Asian financial crisis, for instance, captured the attention of management because of the massive downsizing it produced in Asian businesses. Many of the middle- to low-level staff became the scapegoats. The empowerment of junior employees is strongly related to the success of downsized firms (Mishra et al., 1998; Niehoff et al., 2001), but we are not aware of any studies that have examined how the relationships between situation conditions interact with personal needs and empowerment. The result might be useful in ascertaining the generalizability of findings reported in the Western literature. Literature review and theoretical framework The most significant developments in empowerment theory are due to Spreitzer (1995). Based on the multidimensional conception of empowerment suggested by Conger and Kanungo (1988) and developed by Thomas and Velthouse (1990), Spreitzer (1995) defined empowerment as individuals psychological reactions and positive experience towards their work role. In Spreitzer s (1995) view, the four dimensions of empowerment are meaning, competence, self-determination and impact. Meaning refers to the meaningfulness of work; competence relates to individuals knowledge and skill that permit them to perform the task well; self-determination refers to workers freedom or autonomy in performing their tasks; and impact relates to individuals perception of influence on their tasks or importance of the work. Empowerment has been studied from two perspectives (e.g. Koberg et al., 1999; Spreitzer, 1995; Thomas and Velthouse, 1990). First, empowerment can be seen as a relational and managerial perspective focusing on interpersonal or mutual relationships between superiors and subordinates. Individuals experience a sense of empowerment when they work together across organizational levels to create connections and use these connections to facilitate change processes (Fletcher, 1996; Jordan et al., 1991). Second, empowerment can be seen as a motivational perspective emphasizing a joint function of an individual s ability and

3 Hon and Rensvold: An interactional perspective on perceived empowerment 961 motivation. Managers must give workers the freedom that is, the empowerment condition to use their abilities to the fullest, rather than attempting to manage them in detail. Workers must perceive that they have this freedom; that is, that they are empowered. However, these two perspectives are not sufficiently comprehensive, leading to gaps in the empowerment literature. Both the relational and motivational perspectives tend to overemphasize interpersonal relationships or personal characteristics, while ignoring the environment or the work situation. An interactionist perspective, on the other hand, suggests that the interaction between the person and the environment is important in understanding workplace phenomena, including perceived empowerment. Mischel (1973: 278) stated that [A] person continuously influenced the situations of his life as well as being affected by them in a mutual, organic two-way interaction. Personal and environmental beliefs form the functional framework that individuals used to meet the conditions of the situation, which is another statement of the interactionist perspective. The interactionist perspective was adopted in this study. Empowerment literature tends to adopt this perspective with respect to a wide assortment of human thoughts and behaviours (Bandura, 1977; Bowers, 1973; Brown, 1990). Person and situation are not separable since we can never say with certainty which category of antecedents shall dominate the other. Some studies have argued that there exist some strong situations (e.g. the military) in which personality and personal choices mean little (Davis-Blake and Pfeffer, 1989). Similarly, in some bureaucratic organizations (e.g. government institutions or public sectors) an employee is expected to follow the rules and procedures because authority is highly centralized. In this situation, employees will do nothing. But typical business organizations are not usually characterized by such strong situations. Furthermore, several theorists suggest that people select organizations that best fit their personalities (e.g. Caplan and Harrison, 1993; Schneider et al., 1995). However, in many cases people don t have this much freedom. For instance, since 1997, organizational downsizing in the recent Asian financial crisis, accompanied by massive layoffs, has restricted the occupational choices of many people. As a result, a balanced perspective is to look at both personal and situational characteristics rather than focusing on persons or situations independently. Hypotheses Drawing on the interactionist perspective, this study proposes the conceptual model shown in Figure. 1. Two individual and three task-related characteristics are examined with respect to their separate and joint effects upon perceived empowerment. McClelland s (1961) needs theory attempts to explain and predict attitude and behaviour based on an individual s internal needs. Prior research has shown that individuals striving for achievement and need for control are associated with high intrinsic motivation, improved creativity and feeling self-determination (e.g. Deci and Ryan, 1985; Fodor, 1990). The first individual characteristic is need for achievement (nach). Individuals with a strong nach are believed to be work-oriented and driven. Prior studies found that nach and responsibility are significant predictors of work-related and attitudinal outcomes (e.g. McHenry et al., 1990; Steers and Spencer, 1977) such as job performance and commitment. The effect of nach on perceived empowerment can be understood from both objective and psychological views. From the objective point of view, people with high nach are more likely to achieve their goals because of the extra effort they are willing to expend. As a result, they are likely to solve problems, perform well, and receive recognition and achievement in the

4 962 The International Journal of Human Resource Management Personal characteristics Need for achievement Need for power H1, H2 Perceived empowerment Task context Participation in goal setting Task feedback Competency-based reward H6 H13 H3, H4, H5 Meaning Competence Self-determination Impact Figure 1 A theoretical model of perceived empowerment workplace. Therefore, individuals with high nach are, by virtue of their performance, more likely to be empowered and, therefore, feel more empowered. From a psychological point of view, individuals with strong nach believe that they are competent and capable of influencing their work tasks and work environments. Consistent with this view, studies have found that high-nach individuals also have high self-confidence regarding their abilities to influence situations (McClelland, 1985; Tedeschi et al., 1972) and thus, perceive themselves to be empowered. As a result, they feel more empowered than those who with low nach. These two perspectives both support the notion that nach affects empowerment perceptions. Therefore, we expect that high-nach individuals feel more empowered than lownach individuals. Hypothesis 1: Need for achievement (nach) is positively related to the four dimensions of perceived empowerment as follows. NAch is positively correlated with... Hypothesis 1a Hypothesis 1d: perceived meaning/perceived competence/perceived self-determination/perceived impact. The second individual characteristic is need for power (npow). Individuals with high npow are believed to seek influence, and to drive themselves to achieve control over others. Studies found that individuals with high npow related to managerial effectiveness and motivation (Stahl, 1983; Yasin and Stahl, 1990). Similarly to nach, npow has been characterized from objective and psychological points of views. From the objective point of view, high-npow individuals tend to be ambitious and to believe that they have influence over work outcomes. They attempt to gain control over their work environments, and to seek positions of authority and status. They are more likely to win in organizational competitions (e.g. sales competitions) because they take more active roles in controlling their work schedules and work situations, resulting in higher productivity. Hence, high npow individuals are more likely to be empowered and, therefore, to feel more empowered.

5 Hon and Rensvold: An interactional perspective on perceived empowerment 963 From a psychological point of view, high npow individuals believe that they are powerful, capable and able to control their work settings. Psychological research has shown that need for control is one of the strongest and most deeply ingrained human needs (Alpander, 1991; Lahman and Weaver, 1998; McClelland, 1985). People are unlikely to feel the need for something they also feel incapable of using; therefore, high npow individuals are more likely to feel capable of shaping their work and work environments. Because they are aware of power, high npow people are more likely to feel empowered than low npow people. Both perspectives on npow support the following hypotheses: Hypothesis 2: Need for power (npow) is positively related to the four dimensions of perceived empowerment as follows. NPow is positively correlated with... Hypothesis 2a Hypothesis 2d: perceived meaning/perceived competence/perceived self-determination/perceived impact. The third variable of McClelland s (1961) needs theory is need for affiliation (naff). Individuals with a strong naff desire to establish and maintain friendly and close interpersonal relationships with others. These individuals are believed to be peopleoriented, enjoy social activities, and prefer to join groups and teamwork (Yasin and Stahl, 1990). However, prior study has indicated that individuals with high naff perform better when they are in a cooperative group or a cohesive team (e.g. Chan, 1981). They acquire satisfaction and happiness from the people they work with rather than from the job task itself. This social connection is not the focus of this study. Perceived empowerment is defined above, as increased task motivation resulting in an individual s positive experience towards his or her work role. Given that affiliation focuses on the need for interpersonal harmony or social cohesiveness, it is irrelevant to perceived empowerment. Thus, naff is left out of this study, and no hypothesis will be tested. Hypotheses 1a d and 2a d relate to personal characteristics. In addition, there are situational and task characteristics that have an effect on perceived empowerment. Every organization has a set of tasks and practices that are the foundation of empowerment. Prior studies have identified three task characteristics that are regarded as empowerment conditions that an organization implements to foster employees sense of competence, efficacy, impact (Conger and Kanungo, 1988; Wood and Bandura, 1989; Yagil and Gal, 2002; Zimmerman, 1990), and experience of empowerment. Studies also found that the presence of empowerment conditions was strongly related to empowerment perceptions (Laschinger et al., 2004). The first task characteristic we will consider is participation in goal setting. Studies have found that setting personal goals can improve psychological well-being and performance, guide and motivate behaviour, and build beliefs in one s capabilities (e.g. Wood and Bandura, 1989). Theorists have found that participation in goal setting enhances individuals personal control and increases levels of intrinsic motivation (Locke et al., 1981; Mento et al., 1987). In other words, individuals may find their jobs to be meaningful when they are allowed to set job goals jointly with their superiors. Given that participation in goal-setting can affect an individual s task motivation, it is logical to assume that participation can also influence affective responses related to task motivation, such as feelings of impact and autonomy. The literature supports this assumption by providing empirical evidence that participative goal setting is a significant predictor to affective outcomes (Locke and Latham, 1990), of which perceived

6 964 The International Journal of Human Resource Management empowerment is one. Therefore, we speculate that participation in goal-setting leads to higher empowerment perceptions. Hypothesis 3: Participation in goal-setting is positively related to the four dimensions of perceived empowerment as follows. Participation is positively correlated with... Hypothesis 3a Hypothesis 3d: perceived meaning/perceived competence/perceived self-determination/perceived impact. The second task characteristic to be considered is providing task feedback. Studies suggest that positive feedback from superiors, in the form of acceptance and attention, is a source of encouragement and support to workers in an organization (King, 1990; Mumford and Gustafson, 1988). Positive task feedback in comparison with negative or no feedback encourages individuals engagement in their work, and increases their intrinsic motivation (Fodor and Carver, 2000). It may be that task feedback can motivate and guide purposive action. Peoples performance is based upon their past performance and goals, as modified by the feedback that they have received (Wood and Bandura, 1989). Goal setting is focused on job outcomes, and task feedback is focused on the processes necessary to produce those outcomes. Also task feedback enhances one s perception of how one s work is perceived by others, thus providing information about the value of one s preceding efforts. When individuals receive more feedback about their task performance, they should be more involved in their work, and generate more new ideas about work performance, which in turn may enhance their experienced autonomy and personal capabilities and hence, find their job to be meaningful. Thus, we speculate that empowerment perceptions would be increased if employees are able to receive feedback relating to their task performance and work results. Hypothesis 4: Receipt of task feedback from a supervisor (feedback) is positively related to the perceived empowerment dimensions as follows. Feedback is positively correlated with... Hypothesis 4a Hypothesis 4d: perceived meaning/perceived competence/perceived self-determination/perceived impact. It has been suggested that participative goal setting, in which workers set their performance goals in collaboration with their supervisors, is more effective when the organization utilizes competency-based reward systems rather than job-based reward systems (Lawler, 1994). Competencies are defined as the skills, knowledge and abilities that need to be applied for effective performance (Brown and Armstrong, 1997: 37). In the workplace, job rewards are based on the individual s job performance. However, in an empowerment environment, rewards tend to be allocated not only on the basis of individual performance, but upon the individual s skill, knowledge and ability that are necessary to create the organization s competitive advantage (Lawler, 1994). This may be true because capable people are intrinsically more proactive in their orientation. Reinforcement theory suggested that reward systems linked to personal capabilities increase individuals perceptions that they are important resources to the organization. More specifically, this competence-oriented system delivers a message to employees that they have capabilities and competences that the organization values. They think of themselves as competent, and that they

7 Hon and Rensvold: An interactional perspective on perceived empowerment 965 should be rewarded and reinforced for their performance and competencies. Therefore, reward systems based on personal capability and skill can result in higher empowerment perceptions. Hypothesis 5: An organizational reward system that emphasizes individual competence (reward) is positively related to the perceived empowerment dimensions as follows: Reward is positively correlated with... Hypothesis 5a Hypothesis 5d: perceived meaning/perceived competence/perceived self-determination/perceived impact. In addition to examining the direct effects, this study also examines the interaction process. Theoretically, empowerment consists of a set of conditions purposefully implemented by an organization. In other words, the organization is trying to create a situation in which empowerment programmes such as participatory goal setting, performance-oriented feedback, and competency-based reward can be introduced to foster individuals experiences of empowerment. An empowerment programme often represents an intervention in existing organizational practices. Although employees do not, in the first instance, create their employment situation, their personal needs and values affect their reactions to the situation. Thus, consistent with the interactional perspective, this study also examines the interacting effect of individual and task variables on perceived empowerment. Early studies found that individuals with high nach and high npow prefer outcomeoriented cultures, and situations in which they can attain success or power through their own efforts and abilities (Miner, 1980; O Reilly et al., 1991). First of all, both nach and npow have effects on individuals attitudes towards goals and goal setting. Individuals with high achievement prefer to set goals of moderate difficulty, while individuals with high power prefer to participate in setting their goals rather than accepting goals that are unilaterally assigned by superiors (Conger and Kanungo, 1988; Locke and Latham, 1990). These individuals may perceive their jobs to be more meaningful and autonomous if their organizations involve them in setting performance goals, and in completing tasks from beginning to end (Hackman and Oldham, 1976). Second, prior studies (e.g. Fodor and Carver, 2000) have shown that for individuals with high nach and high npow, the opportunity to receive task feedback, regardless of positive or negative, enhances their cognitive assessments of control and impact by providing information about the effectiveness of their performance. These individuals generate more new ideas, initiate more activities when they receive feedback rather than no feedback. Thus, providing information about one s performance will result in improved work outcomes, and higher perceived empowered. Lastly, compensation systems, as defined, that reward individuals capabilities and skills have significant influence on their well-being, enhancing their sense of competence, feelings of impact, and motivating them to achieve their goals. These three task characteristics may serve as sources of emotional arousal that enhance individuals perceptions of their achievement and control needs by the organization; hence, perceived empowered. In general, we hypothesize that the two individual variables nach and npow will act as moderating variables (MVs) with respect to the relationships between the three situational variables (as IVs) and the four aspects of perceived empowerment (as DVs). The 24 hypotheses associated with the various combinations of MVs, IVs and DVs are shown in Table 1.

8 966 The International Journal of Human Resource Management Table 1 Interaction hypotheses DVs (aspects of perceived empowerment) MVs (individual) IVs (situation) Meaning Competence Self-determination Impact nach Goals H6a H7a H8a H9a Feedback H6b H7b H8b H9b Rewards H6c H7c H8c H9c npow Goals H10a H11a H12a H13a Feedback H10b H11b H12b H13b Rewards H10c H11c H12c H13c Methods Sample and procedures Data for this study were obtained using a convenience sample of middle to low level fulltime Chinese employees working for business organizations in Hong Kong. The researcher telephoned 26 people from different organizations and asked them for their help in distributing the survey to possible respondents in their organizations. Respondents came mainly from six private sectors: sales and marketing, information technology, business administration, banking and finance, engineering, and accounting. The cover page of the questionnaire introduced the general purpose of the study and stated that participation was voluntary. It also assured that the information of respondents would remain confidential. When approached by their co-workers, most subjects agreed to participate in the survey, resulting in an acceptant rate of almost 100 per cent. Respondents completed and returned the questionnaires to their co-worker. A small gift (e.g. a box of chocolates) was given to the co-workers for helping with and participating in the survey. A total of 227 questionnaires were collected between November 2002 and January, 2003, but eight had large amounts of missing values. Of the 219 useable respondents, 58 per cent were male and 42 per cent were female. With regard to age distribution, 51 per cent were between 20 and 29, and 40 per cent were between 30 and 49. In terms of educational background, 66 per cent had bachelor s degrees or professional qualifications, and 26 per cent had completed post secondary levels. Over 70 per cent were low level or non-managerial employees. Respondents reported an average of 4.2 years tenure with their current employers. Measures Appendix A lists all the survey items and their sources. Except for the demographic variables, respondents responded to the items using a seven-point Likert-type scale from 1 strongly disagree to 7 strongly agree.. Need for achievement: Parker and Chusmir s (1991) five-item scale was used. Respondents were asked to indicate the extent to which they agreed with five statements. Coefficient alpha for this five-item scale was.77.. Need for power: Parker and Chusmir s (1991) five-item scale again was used to measure individual striving for power and control over others. Coefficient alpha for this five-item scale was.72.

9 Hon and Rensvold: An interactional perspective on perceived empowerment 967. Participation in goal setting: Respondents completed Shalley et al. s (1987) fouritem scale of participation in goal-setting. These items pertained to respondents general beliefs concerning the extent to which their superiors give them opportunities to participate in setting their performance goals. Coefficient alpha for the four-item scale was.75.. Task feedback: Respondents completed George and Zhou s (2001) four-item scale, which measured receipt of task feedback from superiors in the workplace. Higher scales indicated more positive feedback and lower scales indicated more negative feedback. Coefficient alpha for this four-item scale was.75.. Competency-based reward system: This study developed a new six-item scale to measure respondents perception of the extent to which the organizational reward system is linked to employees capabilities, skills and knowledge. Based on the reward system literature and its definitions, we composed eight statements pertaining to individuals perception of the relationship between competence and compensation. Factor analysis revealed that two items failed to load on a single factor, and these were deleted. Items pertaining to reward skills were I understand that in my company employees who have better skills receive higher pay increase than those with poor skills and Poor skills are not tolerated in my company. Items pertaining to knowledge were I know that in my company the knowledgeable employee gets promoted first and I have a good understanding of how my pay or bonus is linked to individual knowledge and qualification. Coefficient alpha for six-item scale was 78.. Perceived empowerment: Empowerment perceptions were assessed using Spreitzer s (1995) 12-item multidimensional scale: Meaning measured the value of a work goal evaluated in relation to an individual s ideals. Competence measured an individual s belief concerning his or her capability to perform tasks capably. Self-determination measured an individual s sense of freedom in making choices about his or her task. Impact measured an individual s perceived ability to influence outcomes at work (see Appendix A for details). Coefficient alpha for the four subscales were.83,.85,.88 and.92, respectively. To ensure the validity of the four empowerment dimensions, an exploratory factor analysis of the 12 items was employed, using varimax rotation. The results shown in Table 2 confirmed four distinct factors, with the members of each factor associated in the expected way. The four factors corresponded to the theoretical specifications of this study, and were also consistent with those conceptualized by Spreitzer (1995). Factor loadings ranged from.74 and.91. The four factors collectively accounted for 80 per cent of variance. Results Table 3 presents the means, standard deviations, correlations, and reliability coefficients (in parentheses) of all the variables in this study. As expected, the empowerment dimensions were significantly correlated with the individual and task variables. The two individual variables (need for achievement and need for power) were moderately correlated (r ¼.32, p,.001) and the three task variables (participation in goal-setting, competence-based reward system and task feedback) were significantly correlated (correlations ranged from.43 to.46, p,.001). The empowerment dimensions were moderately correlated with each other, with the coefficient between self-determination

10 968 The International Journal of Human Resource Management Table 2 Factor loadings from the principal components analysis of the perceived empowerment items Factor Item I II III IV Impact (a ¼.92) 1 My impact on what happens in my department is large 2 I have a great deal of control over what happens in my department 3 I have significant influence over what happens in my department Competence (a ¼.85) 1 I am confident about my ability to do my job 2 I am self-assured about my capabilities to perform my work activities 3 I have mastered the skills necessary for my job Self-determination (a ¼.88) 1 I have significant autonomy in determining how I do my job 2 I can decide on my own how to go about doing my work 3 I have considerable opportunity for independence and freedom in how I do my job Meaning (a ¼.83) 1 The work I do is very important to me 2 My job activities are personally meaningful to me 3 The work I do is meaningful to me and impact being the strongest (r ¼.52, p,.001). The significant correlations in Table 3 provide support for all the research hypotheses. Table 3 shows a consistent pattern of significant correlations among the IVs. Multiple regression analysis (Table 4) was used to test the hypothesis for each IV, while controlling for the other IVs. Need for achievement was significantly and positively related to the four empowerment dimensions: i.e. meaning (b ¼.17, p,.01), impact (b ¼.15, p,.05), competence (b ¼.32, p,.001) and self-determination (b ¼.23, p,.001). This provides strong evidence for Hypothesis 1. Need for power was significantly and positively related to competence (b ¼.17, p,.05) and marginally related to meaning (b ¼.10, p,.10) and impact (b ¼.11, p,.10) dimensions, but not related to self-determination. Hypothesis 2 was partially supported. Additionally, for the three task variables, participation in goal-setting was significantly and positively

11 Table 3 Means, standard deviations and correlations of study variables (scale reliabilities on the diagonal) Variable M SD Need for achievement (.77) 2 Need for power ** (.72) 3 Participatory goal setting **.23** (.75) 4 Task feedback **.23**.42** (.75) 5 Competency-based reward **.22**.37**.33** (.78) 6 Meaning **.28**.47**.32**.41** (.83) 7 Competence **.30**.28**.27**.16*.34** (.85) 8 Self-determination **.24**.38**.32**.35**.36**.49** (.88) 9 Impact **.24**.28**.33**.27**.31**.26**.52** (.92) Notes: n¼ 219; * p,.05; ** p,.01. Hon and Rensvold: An interactional perspective on perceived empowerment 969

12 970 The International Journal of Human Resource Management Table 4 Results of regressing the four aspects of perceived empowerment on the independent variables (IVs) DVs (aspects) IVs F (df = 5) Adj R 2 b Meaning 21.41***.32 Need for achievement.17** Need for power.10 Participative goal-setting.30*** Competency-based rewards.24*** Task feedback.02 Impact 8.73***.15 Need for achievement.15* Need for power.11 Participative goal-setting.15 Competency-based rewards.13* Task feedback.09 Competence 14.76***.24 Need for achievement.32*** Need for power.17* Participative goal-setting.12 Competency-based rewards.13* Task feedback.17* Self-determination 16.91***.27 Need for achievement.23*** Need for power.05 Participative goal-setting.18*** Competency-based rewards.18*** Task feedback.14* Notes: n¼ 219; p,.10; *p,.05; **p,.01; ***p,.001. related to meaning (b ¼.30, p,.001) and self-determination (b ¼.18, p,.01), but marginally related to impact (b ¼.15, p,.10) and competence (b ¼.12, p,.10). Hypothesis 3 received full support. Task feedback was significantly related to competence (b ¼.17, p,.05) and self-determination (b ¼.14, p,.05) but not for meaning or impact. Hypothesis 4, therefore, received partial support. The perception of competency-based reward was significantly and positively related to all four empowerment dimensions; i.e. meaning (b ¼.24, p,.001), impact (b ¼.13, p,.05), self-determination (b ¼.18, p,.001) and competence (b ¼.13, p,.05). Hypotheses 5 gained empirical support. Stepwise regression analysis was used to examine the interacting effects between the individual and task characteristics (Tables 5 and 6). The IVs and MVs were centred before constructing the interaction terms. The independent variables were entered into the regression equation in the following order: first, the individual characteristics (nach or npow); second, the task characteristics; and third, the interaction terms (e.g. nach Goal; Aiken and West, 1991; Baron and Kenny, 1986; Cohen and Cohen, 1983). Hypotheses 6a c to 13a c state that individual needs would interact with the task characteristics as predictors of the aspects of empowerment. Adding interaction terms involving nach (Table 5) only increased explained variance for the aspect of selfdetermination (DR 2 ¼.02, DF ¼ 4.75, p,.05), but not for the aspects of meaning, competence or impact. The only interaction term having a significant regression weight was nach Goal (Table 5; b ¼.14, p,.05). The interaction is interpreted in Figure 2.

13 Table 5 Regression models: need for achievement as a moderator of the relationships between task context variables and the aspects of perceived empowerment Statistics Task context variables (independent variables) Aspects of perceived empowerment (dependent variables) Meaning Competence Self-determination Impact Model 1 Model 2 Model 1 Model 2 Model 1 Model 2 Model 1 Model 2 b Main effects Need for achievement (nach) ***.28***.20**.26*** Goal-setting (Goal).29***.29*** ***.32*** Competency reward (Reward).29***.30*** ***.68***.38***.38*** Task feedback (Feedback) *.11* Interaction terms nach * goal * 2.02 nach * reward nach * feedback R 2 (Adj) F 14.32*** 15*** 8.36*** 10.1*** 16.95*** 21.7*** 8.53*** 9.70*** df DR DF * 1.17 Ddf Notes: Model 1, main effects only: Model 2, main effects plus regression terms. n ¼ 219; p,.1; *p,.05; **p,.01; ***p,.001. Hon and Rensvold: An interactional perspective on perceived empowerment 971

14 Table 6 Regression models: need for power as a moderator of the relationships between task context variables and the aspects of perceived empowerment Aspects of perceived empowerment (dependent variables) Task context variables Meaning Competence Self-determination Impact Statistics (independent variables) Model 1 Model 2 Model 1 Model 2 Model 1 Model 2 Model 1 Model 2 b Main effects Need for power (npow) **.18* Goal-setting (Goal).31***.33***.15.17*.40***.30***.28***.28*** Competency reward (Reward).29***.29*** ***.70***.38***.36*** Task feedback (Feedback) *.02* Interaction terms npow * goal *.12 npow * reward 2.15* npow * feedback R 2 (Adj) F 14.44*** 15.44*** 6.35*** 7.30*** 13.92*** 19.13*** 8.10*** 11.44*** df DR DF * 3.34 Ddf Notes: Model 1, main effects only: Model 2, main effects plus regression terms. n ¼ 219; p,.1; *p,.05; **p,.01; ***p, The International Journal of Human Resource Management

15 Hon and Rensvold: An interactional perspective on perceived empowerment Self-determination High nach 4.88 Low nach Low Participation in goal-setting High Figure 2 Need for achievement as a moderator of the relationship between participation in goalsetting and self-determination Subjects with high need for achievement reported higher levels of perceived selfdetermination when allowed greater participation in goal setting, as compared with subjects with low need for achievement. The regression results shown in Table 5 support only Hypothesis 8a, indicating limited support for the proposition that individual needs interact with situational factors as predictors of perceived empowerment. Additionally, the interaction of need for power with participation in goal-setting (Table 6) added a significant increment of explained variance for the aspect of selfdetermination (DR 2 ¼.02, F value ¼ 5.21, p,.05) and a marginally significant increment for the aspect of impact (DR 2 ¼.01, F value ¼ 3.34, p,.10). Including the npow interaction terms did not increase explained variance for the aspects of meaning or competence. The regression weights of the npow x goal interaction term were significant for self-determination (b ¼.14, p,.05) and for impact (b ¼.12, p,.10). Similar to Figure 2, Figures 3 and 4 reveal that participation in goal-setting was more strongly associated with sub-dimensions of self-determination and impact for individuals with high need for power than for individuals with low need for power. Since only Hypotheses 12a and 13a were supported, the regression results shown in Table 6 offer only limited support for the proposition that need for power moderates the relationships between task variables and the various aspects of perceived empowerment. Discussion and conclusions In spite of decades of research on empowerment, we are not aware of any studies that have investigated the person situation interactions regarding empowerment. This is remarkable, given the prevalence of the interactionist perspective (e.g. Davis-Blake and Pfeffer, 1989; Mischel, 1977; Schneider, 1983; Terborg, 1981). The objective of this study was to utilize the interactionist perspective by examining both personal and situational factors, and the joint effects of such factors on perceived empowerment. The findings revealed that both individual and task characteristics were positively related to perceived empowerment. All the hypotheses concerning main effects were supported by bivariate correlation (Table 3) and most of them were supported by multivariate regression (Table 4), thus, replicating the key results of the previous studies.

16 974 The International Journal of Human Resource Management High npow Self-determination Low npow Low Participation in goal-setting High Figure 3 Need for power as a moderator of the relationship between self-determination and participation in goal-setting The individual characteristic of need for achievement was significantly related to all four empowerment aspects, while need for power was related to the aspects of meaning, competence, and impact. Consistent with previous studies, which found that needs for achievement and power were related to affective outcomes such as intrinsic motivation, job satisfaction, commitment (Gagne et al., 1997; Liden et al., 2000), we found that they were also related to aspects of perceived empowerment. An interesting finding showed that individuals with high levels of these needs also perceived themselves to be more empowered in some sense, even though they occupied in the first-line or low-level hierarchies of their organizations. Additionally, situational characteristics such as the existence of an individual competency-based reward system were found to be positively and significantly related to the four aspects of perceived empowerment. This result is particularly interesting in light of Lawler s (1994) view that contemporary organizations, faced with a global market, are Impact Low Participation in goal-setting 4.74 High npow 3.99 Low npow High Figure 4 Need for power as a moderator of the relationship between perceived impact and participation in goal-setting

17 Hon and Rensvold: An interactional perspective on perceived empowerment 975 likely to adopt competency-based reward systems as an alternative to traditional seniority-based or job-based systems. Such systems are more likely to provide extensive task feedback and participative goal setting, both to increase productivity and to justify levels of compensation. Correlational results (Table 3) indicate that these situational factors are correlated with all four aspects of perceived empowerment, which is advantageous for reasons other than increased productivity (Thomas and Velthouse, 1990; Wood and Bandura, 1989). An interesting feature of this study concerns the moderating effects of need for achievement and need for power, on the relationships between work tasks and perceived empowerment. Workers with high need for achievement and high need for power tend to experience higher levels of self-determination and impact, and these levels are higher still when the workers are allowed to participate in setting performance goal with their superiors. As theory indicates, individuals with high need for achievement are more likely to feel empowered than individuals with low achievement need. This result is consistent with previous studies showing that personal needs and goal-setting reinforce each others (Latham and Locke, 1991; Locke and Latham, 1990). Organizations attempting to foster empowerment should pay particular attention to participative goal-setting, and try to ensure that high nach and high npow individuals, perhaps management trainees and other fast track employees, have the opportunity to take part in this practice. In contrast, the results of this study did not support the hypothesized interactions between personal needs and positive task feedback as a predictor of perceived empowerment. One possible reason may lie in the original formulation of Ashford (1989: 161), who stated that task feedback (P)rovides accurate, timely, and specific information about the cause-and-effect relationship involved in task performance. In other words, constructive task feedback should be high-quality, accurate and specific rather than simply positive, as in this study. Individuals with high nach and high npow may be more influenced by high-quality and productive feedback of both signs, rather positive feedback only. Further, negative feedback also encourages individuals intrinsic motivation (Fodor and Carver, 2000). High nach and high npow individuals want constructive information about how their efforts deviated from specification, so that they may be more responsive to negative feedback (Lindsley et al., 1995). Thus, individuals with high nach, for example, may actively seek negative feedback more than positive comments in order to accomplish more. On the other hand, no effects were found for the existence of the hypothesized interactions between a competency-based reward system and individual needs regarding aspects of perceived empowerment. One possible reason may be that competency-based reward systems are more likely to be found among professional staff and high skilloriented workers, such as technicians or engineers (LeBlanc, 1991), rather than among the junior-level employees surveyed here. Consistent with this line of argument, this reward system may be more likely to be adopted in industries such as manufacturing, engineering, or information technology that require a larger amount of professionalism and expertise than general business organizations. Building on the preliminary results found in this study, the competency-based reward system might raise more topics that may be worth attention in future research. This study has several limitations. First, the cross-sectional design adopted in it does not permit strong conclusion concerning causal direction. The proposed causal relationships among variables are not certain. One must note that causal inferences made from cross-sectional designs are never more than inferences (Lim and Firkola, 2000). Future work should employ a longitudinal or an experimental design to lend further support to the causal relationships hypothesized. Second, there may be a problem with

18 976 The International Journal of Human Resource Management common method variance. Since data were obtained using a single instrument with selfreport measures, the data may be affected by same-source bias. However, the results of a factor analysis indicated that no single factor accounted for a disproportionate amount of common variance, which gives confidence that the problem is not severe (Podsakoff and Organ, 1986; Podsakoff et al., 2003). Additionally, perceived empowerment is a psychological construct, self-report measures in this case are more accurate descriptions than more objective measures (Howard et al., 1980). Third, the data may not be representative, since subjects were from friends of the researcher. However, the composition of the sample seemed appropriate; i.e. full-time workers, employed in various business sectors. Finally, the dependent variable of perceived empowerment consisted of perceptions rather than behaviours. Future research is needed to link these perceptions to objective work outcomes. In spite of its limitations, this study also makes some contributions. First, the complexities of person task interactions, based on the separate and joint influence of individual and task characteristics, make these contexts a fertile territory for multidimensional empowerment. The findings of this study were consistent with earlier interactional theorists (e.g. Pervin, 1989; Turban and Keon, 1993) that change in psychological states, i.e. perceived empowerment, is expected to follow not only from individuals internal needs but also from the task characteristics. On the other hand, the current study has not explicitly stated the three task characteristics as structural empowerment, these factors implicitly the elements of empowerment condition which are purposefully implemented by an organization to enhance employees experience of empowerment. Second, this paper examines the perceived empowerment of middle- to low-level employees who occupied the bottom of the organizational hierarchy. Traditional research on empowerment has been conducted using samples of top-level managers (e.g. Spretizer, 1995, 1996). In Yoon et al. s (1996) survey found that first-line and low-level employees are also key sources for assessing perceived empowerment in organizations. These results show that junior-level employees, like supervisors or managers, also perceive aspects of empowerment in the workplace. It is important to note that perceived empowerment may be a facilitator for junior-level employees who wish to attain highlevel positions through the development of their capabilities. Third, this study expands the examination of perceived empowerment in a non-western setting, providing findings consistent with the Western context (e.g. the USA). This similarity highlights the generalizability of the perceived empowerment process. Finally, with the increasingly competitive global market, organizations may need to provide not just jobs but also more opportunities for employees to develop their skills and competencies. This point is consistent with business practitioners view (e.g. Lawler, 1992; Posner et al., 1986) that human resource decision-makers should place a strong emphasis on employees development for training and sustaining organizations competitive advantages. In conclusion, this study firmly grounds perceived empowerment in interactional research, a tradition that has been enriching theory and research in the field of organizational behaviour. It extends the interactional perspective to the empowerment literature by taking both personal and task characteristics into account. We hope that the present study provides a more useful, integrative model that will stimulate research on perceived empowerment. In order to prevent treating empowerment in a piecemeal way that may provide mixed signals to organizational members and jeopardize desired outcomes, both the separate and interactive effects of personal and situational variables must be examined. Researchers should continue to examine interactional factors hypothesized to account for both the formation and the impact of perceived empowerment.