Final answer:
Empowerment is the act of strengthening employees' sense of effectiveness by encouraging them to participate in decision-making and initiative-taking, aligning with Theory Y management.
Step-by-step explanation:
The act of strengthening employees' sense of effectiveness by encouraging and rewarding them for participating in decision-making and exercising initiative and imagination is referred to as empowerment. This management approach aligns with Theory Y, which assumes that workers are eager to work hard and productively, believing that employees are more satisfied when given responsibility. In an empowered workplace, employees are involved in decisions and are allowed to contribute ideas, fostering a sense of ownership and satisfaction from their work. For example, telecommuting employees' ability to set their own hours allowing them to work from home at different parts of the day is a form of empowerment.