Influences on employee preferences for empowerment practices by the “ideal manager” in China

Attitudes toward employee empowerment by Chinese and expatriate managers and supervisors, as measured by the “tolerance of freedom” factor of the LBDQXII, of staff and management in a group of hotels in China are discussed. The case deals with a longitudinal study from 1996 to 2002, from the initiation of a management contract with a London-based hotel chain through a significant reduction of participation of expatriate managers from 1999 to 2002. Data is presented from 1999 to 2002 measuring employee and management opinions concerning empowerment. Follow-on studies from 2003 to 2005 provide comparisons from outside Henan Province. Results of the study indicate a positive attitude toward employee empowerment on the part of supervisor-level employees, with a lower, but still positive opinion of the practice exhibited by higher-level managers. This positive attitude is lower for empowerment than for other managerial leader behaviour sets.