Leadership and Empowerment: An Experiential Exercise in Decision Making

Abstract

This paper describes a short experiential exercise for imparting an appreciation of the effects of empowerment in decision-making situations such as occur in flattened, teamoriented organizations. The exercise is useful for instructors treating notions of empowerment, particularly if they are attempting to really impress upon students the impact of empowerment on attitudes and the ability of people to work together. The exercise is short enough to be conducted in a single class session and is appropriate for an introductory course in organization behavior.