Final answer:
Tony is an empowered employee who enjoys autonomy and contributes actively to his job, which aligns with a transformational leadership approach and reflects the wider principle of economic freedom and personal choice's moral value in career selection.
Step-by-step explanation:
Tony is likely considered an empowered employee because he enjoys more freedom to contribute ideas, make decisions, and determine how he should best do his job. This type of employment typically aligns with a transformational leadership style, where leaders encourage creative thinking and individual contribution. The empowerment and autonomy Tony experiences are analogous to the economic freedom individuals have in making personal choices about where they work and what they purchase, reinforcing the importance of personal freedom in job satisfaction.
Studies, like the one by Melvin Kohn and his fellow researchers, have found that employees tend to be happier when they feel in control of part of their work, participate in decision-making processes, work within a team, and have freedom from surveillance, highlighting the significance of job satisfaction factors. Additionally, this aligns with the principle that people's freedom to make their own economic choices has moral value and should be respected.