Autonomy on performance: The notion of task autonomygiving the individual who performs a task considerable discretion and control

in deciding how to carry it outis as old as organizations themselves. The widespread and organized use of task autonomy in organizations, however, is a relatively modern phenomenon. Rarely used systematically before 1980, by the mid 1990s, task autonomy and related forms of employee participation were used in more than 90% of Fortune 1000 companies (Lawler, Mohrman, & Ledford, 1995). Giving task autonomy to employees is generally expected to result in higher motivation, satisfaction, and performance.