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  • March 2018 (Revised March 2019)
  • Technical Note
  • HBS Case Collection

Control or Flexibility? Structured Empowerment Offers Both — Lessons from Retail & Service Chains

By: Tatiana Sandino
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:10
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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.)
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About The Author

Tatiana Sandino

Accounting and Management
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Related Work

    • March 2018 (Revised March 2019)
    • Faculty Research

    Control or Flexibility? Structured Empowerment Offers Both — Lessons from Retail & Service Chains

    By: Tatiana Sandino
    • March 2019
    • Faculty Research

    Control or Flexibility? Structured Empowerment Offers Both—Lessons from Retail & Service Chains (Abridged)

    By: Tatiana Sandino
Related Work
  • Control or Flexibility? Structured Empowerment Offers Both — Lessons from Retail & Service Chains By: Tatiana Sandino
  • Control or Flexibility? Structured Empowerment Offers Both—Lessons from Retail & Service Chains (Abridged) By: Tatiana Sandino
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