Self managing teams in high technology manufacture: overcoming technological barriers

Abstract

This paper examines the introduction of self managing teams into a high technology workplace. The paper looks at the managerial and organizational implications of developing teams in what was considered a high technology environment where the physical restrictions of manufacture were assumed to dictate working practices. The case study evidence suggests that even in an atmosphere of clean rooms and clear communication difficulties, SMTs can prosper and suggests that it is only the physical boundaries which impede the development of more flexible forms of work organization.