THE ANTECEDENTS AND CONSEQUENCES OF PSYCHOLOGICAL EMPOWERMENT: THE CASE OF TAIWAN'S HOTEL COMPANIES

Empowering employees to meet customers' needs or solve their problems can be one of the best ways to satisfy customers. The objectives of this study are to investigate the extent to which the level of psychological empowerment (meaning, competence, self-determination, and impact) is perceived by employees; to examine whether leadership, trust, and organizational culture function as the antecedents of empowerment; and to look into whether empowerment influences job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Using structural equation modeling, this study supports the conclusion that leadership has a positive, direct effect on trust and organizational culture, which are important antecedents related positively to psychological empowerment constructs. The study also suggests that self-determination in psychological empowerment has a significant effect on job satisfaction and is related to organizational commitment.