Employee Empowerment, Creativity and Innovation
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Kuwera, and Lord Agni are the eight lords which constitute the body of a leader. They are all referred to as
Asta Brata Kariyadi, 2013. Furthermore, Wiratmaja 1995 affirmed that the eight strengths which constitute the body ability of a leader are the strengths which
cannot be separated from one another in their implementations. If they are implemented as a totality, then
Asta Brata will greatly contribute to the authority which a leader has; therefore, it will be easy for himher to motivate hisher subordinates to do their respective
obligation. They all reflect the ideal behaviors of a king or leader and are the manifestations of the great natures of Gods. In Ariastha 1999, it is stated that
Asta Brata means the main leadership eight teachings instructed by Sri Rama to Bharata who was
crowned the King of Ayodya. Asta Brata is symbolized using the great natures of the
universe which need to be referred to as guidance by a leader. The eight components of
Asta Brata are as follows Wiratmaja, 1995; Ariasna, 1999; Yasasusastra, 2011:
1 Indra Brata
Indra is the synonym of Apah , that is, the God’s nature which takes care of everything.
Lord WisnuLord Indra is the King of Water, who waters the hot and exhausted world. What is meant is that a leader who implements
Indra Brata does hisher best to fulfill the food and clothing needed by hisher subordinates, as what Lord Indra, who gives
rain and water, does, allowing the plants and creatures on earth to be alive. 2
Yama Brata In the mythology Lord Yama is the manifestation of the God’s power which takes life,
and in Asta Brata he symbolizes a leader who should punish those who have made
mistakes. Based on the karmic law, punishment should be educative; it should be intended to repair mistakes, making a subordinator do what heshe is supposed to do.
3 Surya Brata
A leader should have the natures which the sun has Sûrya; heshe should be able to
motivate and give strength to life which extraordinarily fluctuates and to be the source of energy. From
Surya Brata it can be inferred that a leader should give enlightenment and strength to hisher subordinates. As the sun which rises to eliminate the world’s
darkness, subordinates should be made to be really aware of their responsibilities, meaning that they do what they are supposed to do without many instructions.
4 Casi Brata
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Casi or Candra is the moon which gives cool and comfortable illumination at night to the universe and all creatures. A leader should have the natures which the moon has,
namely, heshe should give illumination to hisher subordinators who are in darkness through a cool and sympathetic appearance to make them feel comfortable and safe.
Someone will be happy and faithful if what heshe needs materially and spiritually can be fulfilled.
5 Bayu Brata
A leader should be like the wind; heshe should always be among the members of hisher organization; heshe should give freshness and always know the problems which
the society he leads faces. Heshe should be able to identity everything which hisher subordinators have in mind; heshe should be able to understand the difficulties which
hisher subordinates have in regard to their lives and what they are supposed to do. Bayu
the wind shows strong opinions which cannot be disturbed by egoism. Heshe should pay attention to the graph describing how the initiatives of hisher subordinators are and
how active they are when they do their activities. 6
Dhanaba Brata Dhanaba Brata is usually referred to as Kuwera Brata. Kuwera is Lord of Wealth. A
leader should have the natures which the earth mainly have, that is, heshe should be the basis where hisher subordinators step on; heshe should give everything heshe has for
the prosperity of hisher subordinators. The meaning which such a teaching contains is that a leader should satisfy hisher subordinators physically and spiritually; heshe
should always pay attention to the prosperity of hisher subordinators. Heshe should organize that everything is neatly done, and should be a model for hisher subordinators.
7 Paça Brata
Paça refers to Lord Baruna or Lord of Sea who has a highly powerful weapon called Nagapasa. What makes a leader powerful is the wide knowledge heshe has. Heshe
should have the nature which the ocean has; heshe should have a wide insight; he should be able to cope with every fluctuation wisely and properly. Heshe should be
wise. Having wide knowledge and being friendly are required in order to be wise. Heshe should be wise, listen to the conscience or opinion of hisher subordinators, and
should be able to make accurate inferences; as a result, hisher subordinators will feel satisfied. In addition, they will be easily made to complete what they are supposed to
do.
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8 Agni Brata
Agni Brata means that a leader should always be motivated and should also be able to motivate hisher subordinators in such a way that they are easily made to do what they
are responsible for. Heshe should have the nature with the fire has, that is, heshe should be able to motivate hisher subordinators to participate in everything; heshe
should maintain hisher principles strongly and punish those who make mistakes objectively.
If further contemplated, it is no exaggeration to say that Asta Brata should be used
as guidance by a leader. It greatly affects management. By observing again the concepts of leadership, especially the concept of the transformational leadership, as stated by Bass in
Luthans 2006, it seems that such a concept of leadership is identical with the basic natures which a leader should have in
Asta Brata. Robbins and Judge 2015: 262 describe a model leadership which shows which leadership is effective and which one is not. From
such a model, it is explained that a transformational leader is more effective as heshe is creative; in addition, heshe also motivates hisher subordinators to do what they are
supposed to do. In this relation, it can be understood that a leader should at least have the following characteristics: a heshe should be a model for hisher subordinators, b heshe
should be honest and fair, and c heshe should side with hisher subordinators. This indicates that the concepts of leadership which
Asta Brata contains are not created as a scientific-academic theory, but it is strongly rooted in the societal and human relationship
and in the transcendental relationship with God. In relation to innovation, Reuvers et al. 2008 analyzed the relationship between
the transformational leadership with the innovative working behavior. The result of the study they conducted showed that there was a significant and positive relationship between
the transformational leadership and the innovative working behavior. Garcia-Morales et al. 2008 proved through their study that the transformational leadership positively
contributed to the innovative behavior. Furthermore, it was stated that through the intellectual stimulation, the transformational leader contributes to the intrinsic motivation
and stimulates creativity. Creativity and knowledge are two highly important aspects of innovation, and innovation is the implementation of what is creatively produced Alves et
al., 2007. The leader of an organization can contribute to the creativity of hisher employees and the company innovation Jung et al., 2003.
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Based on what was described above, hypothesis 6 and 7 can be formulated as follows:
Hypothesis 6: The better the implementation of the Asta Brata leadership, the better
the employee creativity will be. Hypothesis 7: The better the implementation of the
Asta Brata leadership, the better the employee innovation will be.
3. Research Method 3.1 Research Variables and Their Measurements
The variables of the present study are made up of the hexogen variable and endogen variable. The hexogen variable includes the Structural Empowerment X1, the
Psychological Empowerment X2, and the Astra Brata Leadership X3. The endogen
variable includes Creativity Y1 and Innovation Y2. Each variable is an unobserved variable which is measured using several indicators. Each indicator is made up of several
items, which are presented in the form of items of question in the research instrument as the observed variable.
Operating definition of variables
1 Creativity Y1 is the ability which employees have to create, repair and combine things as their responsibilities using the experiences, skills and knowledge they have to make
their jobs valuable to the company. The variable of creativity is measured using four indicators referred to as
Four P’s of Creativity such as person, process, press, and product Rhodes in Munandar, 2009.
2 Innovation Y2; in this present study, it refers to a set of activities done by the key human resources of the manufacturing UMKM which are aimed at introducing new
things which strengthen the company competitiveness, the product innovation, the process innovation, and the managerial innovation Meer,, 2007 and Guijarro et al.,
2009. 3 The Structural Empowerment X1; in this present study, it refers to the employee
empowerment which focus on the policy and practice implemented by the manufacturing UMKM management which are intended to delegate power, the
authority of making decisions and taking responsibilities, to give support to the employees, and to facilitate the access to information for the key employees related to
their jobs Sun et al., 2012; Lawson, 2006.
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4 The psychological empowerment X2; in this present study, it refers to the empowerment which is conceptualized into four cognitions; they are meaning,
competence, self-determination, and impact Chiang and Hsieh, 2012; Tutar et al., 2011.
5 The Asta Brata leadership X3; in this present study, it refers to the leadership which
exemplifies the essential natures of Almighty God, Hyang Widhi, which are
implemented as a totality which greatly contributes to the great authority which a leader has; as a result, heshe can easily activate the human resources, especially hisher
subordinators when doing their jobs Wiratmaja, 1955; Yasasusastra, 2011; Kariyadi, 2013. Such eight natures are referred to as follows:
Indra Brata, Yama Brata, Surya Brata, Casi Brata, Bayu Brata, Dhanaba Brata or Kuwera Brata, Paça Brata, and Agni
Brata. The variables of the present study are measured using the
Likert Scale with the interval of assessment which starts from score 1 completely disagreeing to score 5
strongly agreeing. Each indicator of the variable made up of several items is measured using the average value.