Empowerment and Successful Management of an Organizational Change: The Case of a Bank Acquisition

The motivational benefits of employee empowerment in facilitating organizational change and promoting organizational effectiveness are widely recognized. But often it is not appropriate for an organization to utilize a participative, collaborative, or consultative change‐management strategy. We examined the effects of a small empowerment during the radical and directively‐managed transformation of 52 recently‐acquired branches of a large regional bank. Our findings indicate that even when used in conjunction with an autocratic change‐management strategy, significant benefits can be derived from seemingly minor opportunities for employee empowerment.