Giving an employee more power and authority for improvement within their own level of responsibility encourages employees to be vested within their jobs. Allowing for collaborative improvement within the organization begets further loyalty. In my opinion, the hierarchy of power and authority is just an illusion anyway. If you ask anyone in 90% of corporations today who holds the power, they will tell you it is the computer administrator.

The Shingo Prize for Organizational Excellence has been awarded to companies since 1988 that exhibit high caliber continuous improvement practices, including the empowerment and involvement of employees. This thinking is not new.