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Abstract

The very idea of empowerment depends on managing the dilemmas or polarities (dyads of a continuum) which confront management decisions in organisations. Polarities can also help people diagnose and deal with a group's resistance to change. This paper proposes a new approach to empowerment, reinforcing the traditional (centralised) and modern (participative) approaches with a new ‘dyadic transcendence’ style where the empowerment has to be balanced between the two approaches. Organisations that wish to survive and thrive in today's dynamic marketplace need to constantly re-invent their work processes and structures. Real empowerment must be supported by information collected from both dyads of a continuum: inner-dyads and outer dyads.

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Empowerment at Work: The Dyadic Approach

Abstract

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