Maryam Ghahremani Germi - Department of Executive Management, Ardabil Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University,Ardabil, Iran
Mohammad Hasanzadeh - University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran

Empowerment is still on the agenda as a management concept and has become a widely used management term in the last decade or so. The purpose of this research was describing model of empowering managers by applying structural equation modeling (SEM) at Ardabil universities. Two hundred and twenty managers of Ardabil universities including chancellors, managers, and vice presidents of education, research, and studies participated in this study.Clear and challenging goals, evaluation of function, access to resources, and rewarding were investigated. The results indicated that the designed SEM for empowering managers at university reflects a good fitness level. As it stands out, the conceptual model in the society under investigation was used appropriately. Among variables, access to resources with 88 per cent of load factor was known as the affective variable. Evaluation of function containing 51 per cent of load factor was recognized to have less effect. Results of average rating show that evaluation of function and access to resources with 2.62 coefficients stand at first level. Due to this, they had great impact on managers' empowerment. The results of the analysis provided compelling evidence that model of empowering managers was desirable at Ardabil universities.

Empowerment, Clear and Challenging Goals, Evaluation of Function, Access to Resources, Rewarding System