Previous work has demonstrated that structural forms of empowerment tend to enhance individual and team resilience. However, there is hardly any knowledge about how structural empowerment affects organizational resilience. Moreover, a widespread (though largely untested) assumption is that, in adverse times, power and authority need to be centralized at the top rather than decentralized, to enhance organizational resilience. This paper explores the effects of empowerment on organizational ¬¬resilience in an in-depth case study of a Dutch home care organization, in which employees are structurally empowered. The findings from this case study suggest that structural empowerment indeed positively affects organizational resilience, but that this effect is contingent upon a climate of psychological safety as well as top management’s sustained commitment to structural empowerment. We move beyond the extant conceptualization of psychological safety by demonstrating its inter-level nature in the context of structural empowerment, which operates across organizational levels when employees also engage in discussions on tactical and strategic issues. Overall, this study provides an in-depth understanding of how organizations can enhance their resilience by empowering their members, thus also challenging the common wisdom about centralizing power in adverse times.

以前的工作表明，授权的结构形式往往会增强个人和团队的适应能力。然而，几乎没有关于结构性授权如何影响组织弹性的知识。此外，一个普遍（尽管大部分未经检验）的假设是，在不利时期，权力和权威需要集中在高层而不是分散，以增强组织弹性。本文在荷兰家庭护理组织的深入案例研究中探讨了授权对组织弹性的影响，其中员工在结构上被授权。本案例研究的结果表明，结构性授权确实对组织弹性产生积极影响，但这种影响取决于心理安全气氛以及高层管理人员对结构授权的持续承诺。我们超越了现有的心理安全概念，通过在结构授权的背景下展示其层间性质，当员工也参与对战术和战略问题的讨论时，它在组织层面运作。总体而言，这项研究深入了解了组织如何通过赋予成员权力来增强其弹性，从而也挑战了在不利时期集中权力的普遍智慧。当员工也参与有关战术和战略问题的讨论时，它会跨组织级别运作。总体而言，这项研究深入了解了组织如何通过赋予成员权力来增强其弹性，从而也挑战了在不利时期集中权力的普遍智慧。当员工也参与有关战术和战略问题的讨论时，它会跨组织级别运作。总体而言，这项研究深入了解了组织如何通过赋予成员权力来增强其弹性，从而也挑战了在不利时期集中权力的普遍智慧。