1
Chapter 5
Delegating Authority and Empowering
Employees
After reading and studying this chapter, the student
should be able to:
Recognize the importance of delegation.
Explain what is involved in the delegation process,
including authority, responsibility, and
accountability.
Understand the role of authority.
Understand the role of power and why it is a great
motivator.
Explain the role of empowerment and indicate ways
to increase empowerment.
Understand why some leaders are reluctant to
delegate and why employees may not welcome
delegation.
Know how to face adaptive challenges.
Indicate ways to achieve effective delegation and
discuss the roles of various parties in achieving
effective delegation.
Recognize the benefits of delegation.
Brief Outline
Concepts and Definitions
Role of Delegation
Decentralization
The Role of Authority
Sources of Authority
The Role of Power
How Power Is Obtained
How Power Is Used
The Role of Empowerment
Why Leaders Fail to Delegate
Why Employees May Not
Welcome Delegation
Facing Adaptive Challenges
Achieving Effective Delegation
and Empowerment
Coaching and Teaching
Benefits of Delegation
Seven Habits of Unsuccessful
Executives
Learning Objectives
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© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Valve Corporation, SEI Investments, and Sun Hydraulics–Empower Human Capital
Companies are increasingly empowering their employees by creating decentralized structures, however, the
degree to which decentralization takes place varies from company to company. Valve Corporation, SEI
Investments, and Sun Hydraulics are a few companies that achieved success by adopting this strategy.
Valve is a private video gaming company. It takes advantage of the employees’ creativity and innovation by
giving them the freedom to utilize their talents in their way. The company believes that team management is
about facilitating and coaching rather than directing. This process of “self-selection” results in strong
employee-project fit, motivation, and professional decision making.
SEI is a financial services provider that has also adopted decentralization. SEI aimed at creating a work
environment that emphasized innovation and creativity. New employees are provided with more facilities
than most companies would provide, and are even permitted to sit next to the CEO if they wish. SEI instills
a sense of ownership into its employees which makes them intellectually productive. It embraces change
and believes in planned progression which has given the company a competitive advantage.
Sun Hydraulics is another company that has a flat structure to empower employees to ensure operations
are efficient and effective. Although, it has adopted the same approach as the above mentioned
companies its mission and scope are very different. The company has no job titles, no hierarchy, no
formal job descriptions, organizational charts or departments. The environment encourages innovation
and helps develop a spirit of entrepreneurship throughout the organization, and the workforce is inspired
to satisfy every customer. Sun Hydraulics proves that the empowerment through decentralization strategy
works not only with high-tech companies, but it is as applicable in traditional manufacturing companies.
I. Concepts and Definitions
• Mastering the art of delegation and empowerment is essential to a leader’s growth, development, and
effectiveness, ultimately translating into team and/or organizational success.
A. Role of Delegation
• Delegation is the process by which leaders distribute and entrust activities and related authority to
other people in the organization. Three key aspects of delegation are listed below:
o Granting authority
o Assigning duties and responsibilities
o Requiring accountability
• Authority is the right to do something. When authority is delegated, an individual or team is given
the power or right to act in a specified manner in order to reach organizational objectives.
Preview
Lecture Outline
CHAPTER NOTES Chapter 5
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• Assigning duties and responsibilities occurs when key tasks associated with a particular job are
specified.
o In mid- to large-size organizations, job descriptions provide information to employees about
the important job-related tasks.
• Accountability is the obligation that is created when an employee accepts the leader’s delegation
of authority—the process by which leaders distribute and entrust activities and related authority to
other people in an organization.
o Accountability flows upward, such that the delegate is responsible to the next higher level of
management to effectively carry out the assigned duties and responsibilities.
B. Decentralization
• Decentralization is broader than delegation—it refers to the extent to which authority is delegated
from one level or unit of the organization to another, rather than from one individual to another.
II. The Role of Authority
• Authority is the right to do something or to tell someone else to do it, in order to reach organizational
objectives.
• Without a system of authority, an organization could not function.
A. Sources of Authority
1. Formal Authority View
• According to the formal theory of authority, authority is conferred; authority exists because
someone was granted it.
o This view traces the origin of authority upward to its ultimate source, which for business
organizations is the owners or stockholders.
2. Acceptance of Authority View
• The acceptance theory of authority disputes the idea that authority can be conferred.
o Acceptance theorists (chiefly behaviorists) believe that a manager’s authority originates
only when it has been accepted by the group or individual over whom it is being
exercised.
o Acceptance of the directive becomes the basis of action.
▪ Disobedience of this directive by an employee is a denial of its authority for him
or her.
III. The Role of Power
• Possession of authority by a leader is not always sufficient in itself to assure that subordinates will
respond as the leader’s desires. In such cases, a leader must use some other approach.
• Power is the ability to influence individuals, groups, events, and decisions and is closely related to
leadership.
o The use of power is essential to effectively accomplish individual, organizational, and social
goals.
▪ Interest in power has also been generated by David McClelland’s research showing that
a high need for power is an important characteristic of successful managers.
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A. How Power is Obtained
• Power can be obtained from many sources; six of these sources have been translated into types of
power.
o Reward power arises from the number of positive rewards (money, protection, etc.) that a
leader is perceived as controlling.
o Coercive power results from people’s perceived expectation that punishment (being fired,
reprimanded, etc.) will follow if they do not comply with the orders of a leader.
▪ Coercive power can be a necessary and effective means of influence, when used
appropriately, but overreliance on this source of power can actually be detrimental and
result in a leader’s total power diminishing over time
o Legitimate power develops from internalized values that dictate that a leader has an inherent
right to influence subordinates.
o Control-of-information power derives from the possession of knowledge that others do not
have.
o Referent power is based on people’s identification with a leader and what that “leader” stands
for or symbolizes.
o Expert power results from a leader’s expertise or knowledge in an area in which that leader
wants to influence others.
• More effective leaders draw more on referent power and expert power, and practice more open
communication in information sharing.
B. How Power Can Be Used
• Some leaders believe that if a manager has power and shares it with others (delegates it), it is
diminished.
o The best way to expand power is to share it, for power can grow, in part, by being shared.
• Effective leaders have a high need for power, but that need is directed toward the benefit of the
organization as a whole.
o The need for power is stronger than the need to be liked by others.
o A leader must be willing to play the influence game in a controlled way.
• Power-motivated leaders make their subordinates feel stronger rather than weaker.
IV. The Role of Empowerment
• Empowerment essentially is the granting of authority to employees to make key decisions within
their enlarged areas of responsibility.
• The driving idea of empowerment is that individuals closest to the work and to customers should
make the decisions.
• Empowerment can be considered as a continuum with one end representing low levels of
empowerment and the opposite end reflecting high levels.
V. Why Leaders Fail to Delegate
• Many good and intelligent people have difficulty delegating authority when in leadership positions,
particularly in the early stages of their careers.
• In the formative years, success depends primarily on the individual’s efforts.
• The following are some of the reasons why many leaders have difficulty delegating:
o Many leaders like to control, but feel that when they delegate they surrender some of their
power and authority.
CHAPTER NOTES Chapter 5
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o Some leaders don’t delegate because of a lack of trust in others.
o Because leaders are being held accountable for results, they don’t delegate out of fear
employees will make mistakes.
o Others do not delegate because they are insecure and are afraid that their employees will do
so well that they will be recognized and promoted ahead of the leader.
o A legitimate reason why some leaders don’t delegate is they correctly assess that employees
need more training, coaching, and experience in certain assignments.
A. Why Employees May Not Welcome Delegation
• Reasons why employees may not welcome delegation are as follows:
o Ambiguous or unclear duties and responsibilities.
▪ The manager must clearly communicate to the employee the duties and
responsibilities, the need and importance of the assignment, and why the employee
was selected.
▪ There is always a chance that newly delegated responsibilities and duties will be
poorly communicated, which can lead to negative outcomes.
o Fear of failure.
▪ Many managers may diagnose the job maturity level of their employees and assign
them tasks that are too difficult. This mistake may result in the employee being
unfairly criticized during their performance review or perhaps even fired
o Increased stress.
▪ Increased delegation can mean increased stress on employees.
▪ Management efforts to downsize or restructure the organization to be more competitive
can lead to employee role overload.
▪ Some employees prefer not to be empowered. Managers must assess the employee’s
job maturity level and need for growth when selecting an employee for delegation.
B. Facing Adaptive Challenges
• Companies today face adaptive challenges.
• Changes in societies, markets, customers, competition, and technology around the globe are forcing
organizations to develop new strategies and learn new ways of operation.
• Often the toughest task for leaders in effecting change is mobilizing people throughout the
organization to do adaptive work.
• Solutions to adaptive challenges reside not in the executive suite, but in the collective intelligence
of employees at all levels, who need to use one another as resources, often across boundaries, and
learn their way to those solutions.
1. Reframing and Training
• Reframing and training is one way to face adaptive challenges at work. It helps organizations
and individuals to change values and behaviors and to identify new approaches and strategies.
• The essence of reframing is examining the “situation from multiple vantage points to develop
a holistic picture.
• Effective leaders change lenses when they don’t make sense or aren’t working
VI. Achieving Effective Delegation and Empowerment
• Experience and, especially, mistakes are the best learning tools.
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o The key to learning from experience, including both successes and failures, is to go through a
disciplined reflection on that experience.
• The experiential learning model highlights the importance of using feedback to gain insights in
learning from experience.
o The use of this model, particularly in a coaching or mentoring environment, is very helpful for
achieving successful delegation, empowerment, and results.
A. Coaching and Teaching
• Two of the most significant ways of empowering and developing people are coaching and teaching.
• There are many different ways to coach and teach.
B. Benefits of Delegation
• Employee development.
o Through delegation employees can learn from their experiences.
o When managers enable their employees to succeed and/or make mistakes on their own, a
valuable learning opportunity is created.
• Improved control.
o Managers who delegate effectively emphasize results, not specific actions, and provide
feedback when appropriate.
• Improved time management.
o Managers who effectively delegate tasks to their subordinates have more time to spend on
planning and trouble shooting.
• Enhanced power.
o When employees are empowered, the environment created results in more people being
knowledgeable and concerned about the organization’s objectives. This concern leads to a
sense of responsibility or ownership in the work itself.
VII. Seven Habits of Unsuccessful Executives
• The seven habits of unsuccessful executives are as follows:
o They see themselves and companies as dominating their environment.
o They identify so completely with the company that there is no clear boundary between their
personal interests and the corporation’s interests.
o They think they have all the answers.
o They ruthlessly eliminate anyone who isn’t 100% behind them.
o They are consummate spokespersons obsessed with the company image.
o They underestimate obstacles.
o They stubbornly rely on what worked for them in the past.
VIII. Chapter Review
The PowerPoint slides correlated with the Lecture Outline above are available on the Instructors CD-ROM
and on the product support website.
PowerPoint Slide 5-1 Chapter 5 Title
Visual resources
CHAPTER NOTES Chapter 5
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PowerPoint Slide 5-2 Learning Objectives
PowerPoint Slide 5-3 Learning Objectives (cont’d)
PowerPoint Slide 5-4 Delegation of Authority
PowerPoint Slide 5-5 Delegation of Authority (cont’d)
PowerPoint Slide 5-6 Role of Authority
PowerPoint Slide 5-7 Power
PowerPoint Slide 5-8 Power (cont’d)
PowerPoint Slide 5-9 Power (cont’d)
PowerPoint Slide 5-10 Authority-Power Combination (Text Exhibit 5-1)
PowerPoint Slide 5-11 Empowerment
PowerPoint Slide 5-12 Why Leaders Fail to Delegate
PowerPoint Slide 5-13 Why Employees May Not Welcome Delegation
PowerPoint Slide 5-14 Facing Adaptive Challenges
PowerPoint Slide 5-15 The Experiential Learning Model (Text Exhibit 5-3)
1. Discuss four reasons delegation is important.
Delegation is important for the following reasons:
• Delegation is vital in developing employees since they can’t grow if they are over- or under-
supervised and if there is no trust in the management structure. People learn by doing, and by
making mistakes.
• Delegation allows the supervisor to do other things, such as planning and coordinating with
other departments.
• Delegation also allows more work to be accomplished and expands the basis of power. More
people become knowledgeable about what the priorities are and are given meaningful
assignments in getting the job done.
• Finally, delegation improves control. The supervisor focuses on how well standards and
objectives are being met, not on the specific details of how they are being met.
2. Describe the process of delegation.
There are three key aspects in the process of delegation: granting authority, assigning responsibility,
3. Explain the interrelationships among authority, responsibility, and accountability.
In the delegation process, authority is passed downward from one organizational level to the next.
Responsibility is created when a worker accepts these duties—it flows up from lower to higher levels.
The obligation that is created, accountability, also is focused upward and is an important part of the
control process. Thus, each of these aspects ties together supervisory management to middle
management to top management.
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4. Why do some supervisors fail to delegate effectively? If this situation were a common problem in an
organization, what could be done to increase supervisors’ skills in delegating effectively?
5. What are the roles played in effective delegation?
6. In what way or ways can higher management affect the delegation process?
7. In what way or ways can employees affect the delegation process?
Employees can play a role in effective delegation in a number of ways:
• Take the initiative.
• Relate to the supervisor.
• Be sure the delegation is realistic.
• Determine and give feedback regarding results.
• Report periodically to the supervisor.
• Carry out the delegated assignments effectively.
8. Do you think Commander Abrashoff’s approach and philosophy would be successful in the private
sector? Why or why not?
Many elements of Commander Abrashoff’s approach would be equally successful in the private sector.
Listening to employees and trusting their input is a key element of any good management style. His
emphasis on quality is also universal to successful management. It should be pointed out, however, that
Commander Abrashoff’s improvement program occurred in the highly structured environment of the
U.S. military. In the real workplace, people don’t salute and obey on command.
CHAPTER NOTES Chapter 5
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9. Do you agree or disagree with McClelland that power is the great motivator? Support your position.
This should be the basis for a great class discussion. Does power motivate your students? Do they
understand what power is? It should be interesting to note whether there are differences between the
opinions of younger students and older non-traditional students.
10. How does a firm set boundaries to create autonomy and empowerment?
It is one thing to say that employees should be empowered to make decisions that affect their jobs. It is
quite another to live with some of the decisions that actually get made. How far should an organization
go in encouraging creative decision making? Will bad decisions be viewed as a learning experience or
as a mistake? Are there some types of decisions that should not be made at lower levels? Should there
be a monetary limit on creative decisions and suggestions? These type of questions need to be
answered before beginning a program of empowerment.
Skill Assessment 5.1
Delegating Tasks to Subordinates
Works with SCANS competencies: Information
This Skill Assessment presents eight situations and asks the student whether they “usually,” “sometimes,”
or “seldom” act in a certain way. The exercise provides a scoring key in which points (1 to 3) are awarded
for specific answers. When the points are totaled, a score of 20 or higher suggests superior delegation skills.
A score of 15 to 19 indicates a need for improvement. A score below 15 suggests a need for substantial
improvement.
Skill Assessment 5.2
Do You Delegate As Much As You Can?
Works with SCANS competencies: Information
Most supervisors believe that they involve their employees and listen to suggestions. However, specific
questions such as those presented in this Skill Assessment can uncover subconscious resistance to
delegation. Management is not an eight-hour-a-day occupation. Most managers work overtime and take
work home. However, when a manager works overtime every day and takes home work every evening, it is
time to analyze one’s delegation approach.
If nine or more questions are answered in the affirmative, it is likely that the person is not delegating
enough. Five common reasons for not delegating are provided: lack of patience, insecurity, inflexibility,
inadequacy, and occupational hobby.
Skill Builder 5.3
Delegating Simulation
Works with SCANS competencies: Interpersonal Skill, Information, Resources, Systems
This Skill Builder is about Mary Manager who is challenged by her lack of ability to delegate. Although
Mary has determined six responsibilities that she can delegate, she has been unable to do so for various
reasons. Each student is asked to decide which one of the six responsibilities is the most critical activity for
Solutions to the skill builders
SUPERVISORY MANAGEMENT Instructor’s Manual
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Mary Manager to delegate, the next second critical activity, and so on. Next, students are to assemble into
groups of five to six members to reach a consensus regarding a team list of priorities. Groups are to present
their results to the class.
Skill Builder 5.4
Developing a Delegation Action Plan
Works with SCANS competencies: Interpersonal Skill, Information, Resources, Systems
Students are to think of an actual delegation having to do with their job or at school that they presently
perform. The delegation should be one that can be assigned to one or more of the student’s group members.
Case 5-1
Joyce Wheat’s Problem
Meet in groups of six or seven people. Make a diagnosis of what the problem is, and identify the critical
issues involved. Select one member of your team to present what the team thinks Wheat should do. After all
teams have presented, the class should vote on which approach offers the best solution.
The critical issue appears to be that Joyce Wheat is using too close supervision. Instead of delegating
authority, letting people do their jobs, and following up afterward, she is looking over their shoulders,
trying to supervise them too closely.
People have the perception that she is a “driver” and that she has a lack of interest in people, but is more
interested in the results. She needs to develop understanding of the problem of supervising through people,
particularly those older, more experienced. Wheat should probably ask these more experienced workers for
their cooperation and suggestions as to how to get the work done.
Case 5-2
The Autocratic Manager
1. Why do you think the autocratic approach worked effectively for four years in this situation?
The autocratic approach is very structured and centralized. Resources were carefully allocated, and the
gains from efficient use of resources resulted in several years of successful performance. It might also
be that the previous management was so uncoordinated that employees were grateful for the structure
and security of the autocratic approach.
2. Diagnose the problems and/or issues facing this mill.
The mill, specifically top management, needs to reevaluate its approach to decision making. Currently
3. a. Develop a PowerPoint presentation and present your consulting team’s set of
Solutions to the Case
CHAPTER NOTES Chapter 5
recommendations to the class.
b. Develop a set of recommendations that you or your consulting team will present to the mill
manager. Include suggestions regarding his leadership styles. (Role-play the presentation, keeping in
mind that the manager is paying your consulting fee.)
Once top management has given its support, a company-wide empowerment program should be
undertaken. This first step may be the hardest. Current management doesn’t believe the problem is
theirs; they blame the difficulties on lower level management. How can the consulting team change
this basic philosophy without antagonizing the very people paying them? What data could be used to
change this mindset? Can it be changed? This should be an interesting discussion.