Final answer:
Employee involvement in decision-making is most likely to support an organization's empowerment efforts. Empowerment emphasizes participative management contrary to traditional bureaucratic structures characterized by hierarchies and top-down communication.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question asks which of the following would most likely support an organization's empowerment efforts, and the correct answer is c. Employee involvement in decision-making.
Empowerment in the workplace is a crucial aspect of modern organizational culture. In contrast to centralized decision-making and strict top-down communication, which can discourage employee initiative, involving employees in decision-making can increase their commitment and overall job satisfaction.
Hierarchies may provide structure to an organization, but for empowerment efforts, a more participative approach is usually favored.
Empowerment efforts can be further understood by examining bureaucratic structures. Traditional bureaucracies, which were formed during the Industrial Revolution for mass production, are characterized by a clear hierarchy of authority, explicit rules, and a division of labor, which are intended to improve efficiency and serve a large population.
However, in the information age, overly rigid adherence to hierarchies can be counterproductive. Hence flattening organizational structures and collegial relationships are now more common, enabling the sharing of ideas and involving a broader range of employees in decision-making processes.