Influence of Locus of Control Job Characteristics and Superior-Subordinate Relationship on Psychological Empowerment : A Study in Five Star Hotels

The growing competition and ever increasing customer expectations today are driving the hospitality industry to embark on employee empowerment practices. Available literature on empowerment indicates that the success of empowerment depends on various factors related to the employee, the job, and the organization. This paper presents the results of a study undertaken to see the influence of variables such as internal locus of control, job characteristics, and superior-subordinate relationship on the psychological empowerment of employees in the hospitality sector. The sample consisted of 319 frontline employees of five-star hotels located in the city of Mumbai. Results based on correlation and multiple linear regression analysis show all the three variables to positively influence the psychological empowerment of the frontline employees. Implications of these findings are discussed in the paper.