Empowerment in a team is most closely associated with which practice?

• A. Increasing surveillance over workers.
• B. Outsourcing all decisions to consultants.
• C. Giving employees authority and responsibility to make decisions within their role.
• D. Centralizing decisions at top management.

Answer: (C)

Empowerment means giving team members the authority and responsibility to make decisions about their work. When people have the power to decide within their role, they feel ownership of outcomes, stay motivated, and can respond quickly to issues because decisions aren’t waiting on someone higher up. This is exactly what empowerment is about: distributing decision rights to those who are closest to the task.

The other options don’t fit empowerment. Increasing surveillance centers on control rather than enabling autonomy. Outsourcing all decisions to consultants removes the team’s own decision-making rights. Centralizing decisions at top management concentrates power away from those doing the work, reducing the sense of empowerment.