A research study submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Administration, School of Management

Research report (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2002

Empowering service employees is usually recognized as being a necessity in order to provide an exceptional customer service and make customers delighted and eager to come back. As a result, it could be expected that every companies managed to empower its frontline employees as much as possible. In light of the results of the present survey, conducted in three renowned hotels of Bangkok, Thailand, it is possible to say that there is a long way ahead before reaching a really high level of empowerment. For the time being, front-line employees, those who are to be empowered, keep smiling and doing the "Wai'', the traditional Thai greeting, to guests, but this situation may not last. The main reason explaining this inability to give employees the authority to do whatever it takes to satisfy the customer is the Thai environment, which tends to make employees reluctant to behave in a proactive way. To achieve a higher empowerment level, both executives and staff should wonder how to go beyond this limitation so as to marry initiative and unmatched care.