ABSTRACT
Favoured words come and go in the vocabulary of managers and professionals in the personnel field. Empowerment provides just such an example. One hears less of the word these days than one did formerly. The concept of empowerment certainly implies some radical reappraisal of work roles and so falls within the terms of reference of this book. Hence there seems a need to check on the current standing of the concept and, if anything has gone wrong with what looked a promising development, to ascertain what the reason might be.
