To what extent does teamwork lead to empowerment? The term teamwork is often seen by others as a group of people working to achieve a common goal. This view is often shared by employers who see teamwork as a group of employees working to achieve organizational goals that would equate to increased revenue for the organization. On the other hand, empowerment has been seen as giving a certain level of autonomy to employees in an attempt to build their self-esteem, while transferring a certain level of responsibility towards problem solving or problem solving. However, for the purposes of this assignment, teamwork will be seen in relation to management control and work intensification. Organizations are increasingly driven by technology, resulting in the adaptation of new systems. This has given rise to a shift in focus on employees and the strategies that can be employed to achieve maximum job performance from employees. According to CLMS, 2006:M2:U4:5, teamwork involves giving small groups of workers a certain degree of autonomy over the organization of work, or over elements of daily management, or both. The assignment will seek to explore the extent to which teamwork leads to empowerment. An organization can only reach its maximum potential if its employees are motivated to do so. Teamwork is an excellent strategy that can be adopted in today's job market; however, this strategy can be more effective if its employees are empowered to make decisions. CLMS 2006M1:U4:6 describes empowerment as associated with some redistribution of power. It can be argued that teamwork leads to autonomy in decision making (excluding some company-level decisions). Not only is this an example of workforce competence (Hyman and Mason, 1995; Walton, 1985), as cited in CLMS, 2006. It can also be argued that Total Quality Management can empower employees by delegating functions that were previously the preserve of the most senior members of the organization and consequently institutionalize participation on a permanent basis (Hill 1991, p. 541) cited in CLMS M2:U4:43)..."there is also a profoundly negative force that has driven the initiatives of empowerment. In the 1980s and 1990s, rationalization and downsizing were the order of the day. In this context, empowerment became a business necessity as the understaffed and retarded organization could no longer function as before. In this set of circumstances, empowerment was inevitable as tasks had to be assigned to the survivors in the new organization” (CLMS 2006 M2:U4:43-44).