This thesis aims to provide an examination of theory and practice of empowerment in an Indonesian context. It develops a theoretical analysis of empowerment based on literature from several disciplines including organisational behaviour, human resource management, community psychology, and political science. It integrates perspectives by taking advantage of the diversity offered by these disciplines, while recognising the limitations of one discipline, in order to produce a richly contextualised understanding of empowerment. As a consequence, this study also combines their different methodologies. It consists of four cases of manufacturing plants in Indonesia. The empirical work involved a survey of employees, interviews with management and employees, and analysis of corporate documents.