Delegation of Managerial Power: A Modern Lever for Participative Management in Cameroonian SMEs

Abstract

The main aim of this study is to highlight how the manager transfers her power to a company employee, whether close to the management board or not, to carry out a certain number of tasks on her behalf. An analysis of the literature revealed that, on the one hand, the delegation of power is a form of participative management that has a more or less harmful influence on the company and certain stakeholders. On the other hand, it has been shown that the delegation of power engenders an agency relationship that is a source of conflicts of interest between the delegator and the delegatee, due to non-compliance with contractual clauses or the opportunism of the delegatee, who may use any means at his disposal to definitively oust the delegator and remain in his new position for a long time. This practice does exist within companies in Cameroon, although it is not clearly defined by OHADA law.