The sustainability of teamwork under changing circumstances

Abstract

PurposeTo assess how team working processes at the Volvo‐Ghent car plant in Belgium could evolve following the purchase of Volvo by Ford and the intention to vastly increase production from the year 2004.Design/methodology/approachDoctoral research on work organization in Belgian car assembly plants, an assignment of the Flemish government to provide scientific back‐up for a “round table” on the car assembly industry, and an interview with a key respondent, responsible for personnel relations in the case study plant.FindingsThey discuss the challenge to the Belgian car plant's distinctive model of teamwork, which it has established over the last decade, by its biggest‐ever expansion (plans to double its production capacity in 2004) and by the new ownership of Ford. The explanations and descriptions of the effectiveness of various teamwork models are given in considerable textual and diagrammatic detail, and are applied to an assessment of the sustainability of team working at the Ghent plant.Practical implicationsThe extent to which the plant is able to limit regression of the teams on the process dimension is crucial for upholding its structurally progressed “third way” in teamwork within the Ford group.Originality/valueThe explanations and descriptions of the effectiveness of various teamwork models are given in considerable textual and diagrammatic detail, and are applied to an assessment of the sustainability of team working at the Ghent plant.