Applying empowerment? A reply in the form of a corrective

This paper is written as a reply to the paper “Applying empowerment: organizational model” written by Baruch. The paper argues that Baruch’s account of empowerment, in spite of its attempts to educate managers actually works to obscure understanding. Mounting a challenge to Baruch a three‐fold critique is developed. Examining the treatment of history, process and context in Baruch’s work, this paper concludes that Baruch’s analysis lacks, rejects or mis‐reads a range of contextual and conceptual issues which should be of central importance.