Publications
Publications
- March 2018 (Revised March 2019)
- HBS Case Collection
Control or Flexibility? Structured Empowerment Offers Both — Lessons from Retail & Service Chains
By: Tatiana Sandino
Abstract
This note explains how several retail and service organizations use a practice described here as “structured empowerment” to balance control and flexibility as they grow. I define structured empowerment as a practice that grants employees both (a) the power to make choices from narrow sets of options on a set of inputs and processes and (b) the responsibility to deliver results according to the company’s value proposition. This lets a company control operations—by standardizing the options frontline employees can choose from to drive results—and adapt to diverse markets—because combining choices from the options makes a large number of service offerings and routine sequences possible.
Keywords
Service Operations; Standards; Employees; Service Delivery; Decision Making; Power and Influence; Retail Industry; Service Industry
Citation
Sandino, Tatiana. "Control or Flexibility? Structured Empowerment Offers Both — Lessons from Retail & Service Chains." Harvard Business School Technical Note 118-082, March 2018. (Revised March 2019.)