Abstract

Enfranchisement is achieved through an integration of empowerment with methods of pay-for-performance. Such combinations have the potential for producing extraordinary service, unusually high rewards for employees, and higher levels of profitability for the service firms that employ these methods. Through the analysis of firms that have had enfranchised service workers for many years, along with firms that have recently embarked on the effort, the authors define the achievements of enfranchisement and explore the conditions under which enfranchisement is likely to be effective.