Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • Article
  • California Management Review

Enfranchisement of Service Workers

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and James Heskett
  • Format:Print
ShareBar

Abstract

Enfranchisement is achieved through an integration of empowerment with methods of pay for performance. Evidence from Ito Yokado Group in Japan and Nordstrom in the US demonstrates the positive effects of enfranchisement. Successful efforts to enfranchise employees: 1. reflect the culture of the organization or individual department in which it is being implemented, 2. grant employees varying degrees of control over operating decisions and compensation, 3. involve efforts to encourage communication from lower to higher ranks of the organization, and 4. make an array of resources available to employees to help them succeed. Major challenges to implementation include: 1. the scarcity of unit managers with the human and technical skills to interpret policies associated with enfranchisement, 2. the unwillingness of middle management to support enfranchisement, 3. the perception of management as unfair by associates, and 4. the inadequate conditioning of participants' expectations.

Keywords

Motivation and Incentives; Franchise Ownership; Employees; Compensation and Benefits; Service Industry; Japan; United States

Citation

Schlesinger, Leonard A., and James Heskett. "Enfranchisement of Service Workers." California Management Review 33, no. 4 (Summer 1991).
  • Read Now

About The Authors

Leonard A. Schlesinger

General Management
→More Publications

James L. Heskett

→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • May 2025
    • Faculty Research

    Fidji Simo: Growing the Pie at Instacart

    By: Hubert Joly, Leonard A. Schlesinger and James Barnett
    • April 2025
    • Faculty Research

    Thrivent: From Insurance Agents to Financial Advisors

    By: Hubert Joly, Leonard A. Schlesinger and Tom Quinn
    • December 2024 (Revised March 2025)
    • Faculty Research

    Shouldice Hospital Today

    By: James Heskett
More from the Authors
  • Fidji Simo: Growing the Pie at Instacart By: Hubert Joly, Leonard A. Schlesinger and James Barnett
  • Thrivent: From Insurance Agents to Financial Advisors By: Hubert Joly, Leonard A. Schlesinger and Tom Quinn
  • Shouldice Hospital Today By: James Heskett
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College.