Self-managed Work Teams Research Articles

The Impact of Team Members’ Cultural Values on Productivity, Cooperation, and Empowerment in Self-Managing Work Teams

Using a field survey of 81 self-managing work teams (SMWTs) in Belgium, Finland, the Philippines, and the United States, we examined the extent to which team members’ resistance to SMWTs mediated the relationships between team members’ cultural values and team effectiveness. Specifically, we found that teams higher, rather than lower, in collectivism were also more productive, cooperative, and empowered; and that these relationships were fully mediated by the level of team resistance to the team-related aspect of SMWTs. Also, we found that teams that were more, rather than less, doing-oriented were also more empowered, and that this relationship was fully mediated by the level of team resistance to the self-managing aspect of SMWTs. The findings suggest that it may behoove managers who are charged with implementing SMWTs to pay close attention to the predominant cultural values inherent in the teams they lead. Additional practical and theoretical implications are discussed.

MANAGING FROM THE BOUNDARY: THE EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP OF SELF-MANAGING WORK TEAMS.

The use of self-managing work teams (SMWTs) has increased dramatically in the last decade. Despite this increase, the question of how to effectively lead SMWTs remains unanswered. This paper presen...

The Impact of Cultural Values on Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment in Self-Managing Work Teams: The Mediating Role of Employee Resistance

Using a field survey of 461 self-managing work team members in four countries, we examined: (1) whether employee resistance to such teams mediated the relationships between employee cultural values and job attitudes and (2) whether the value-resistance relationships were stronger in some countries than in others. Results show that resistance mediated the cultural value-job attitude relationships, sometimes fully and sometimes partially, depending on which type of resistance (to teams or to self-management) and which type of cultural value was being examined. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Individual Differences in Cognitive Style and their Effects on Task and Social Orientations of Self-Managed Work Teams

When assembling self-managing work teams, the personalities of team members are often overlooked. One personality variable known to be critical for effective decision making in teams is cognitive style. This study sought to examine how differences and similarities in analytic/intuitive cognitive styles affected the behavior of team members on the task/emotionally expressive dimension identified by Bales. As hypothesized, intuitive individuals and homogeneous intuitive teams were found to initiate more social-emotional acts. Contrary to expectations, intuitive rather than analytic individuals and homogeneous intuitive rather than analytic teams engaged in more task-oriented behaviors. Teams also tended to select intuitive individuals as leaders. The possibility that different combinations of styles may be important for overall team effectiveness was subsequently discussed, and it was suggested that this may depend on whether the nature of the work environment is relatively well structured and mechanistic or relatively unstructured and organic.

THE IMPACT OF CULTURAL VALUES ON JOB SATISFACTION AND ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT IN SELF-MANAGING WORK TEAMS: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF EMPLOYEE RESISTANCE.

Using a field survey of 461 self-managing work team members in four countries, we examined: (1) whether employee resistance to such teams mediated the relationships between employee cultural values and job attitudes and (2) whether the value-resistance relationships were stronger in some countries than in others. Results show that resistance mediated the cultural value-job attitude relationships, sometimes fully and sometimes partially, depending on which type of resistance (to teams or to self-management) and which type of cultural value was being examined. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

A Causal Model of Burnout Among Self-Managed Work Team Members

The findings on burnout that are almost universally from research in service settings are applied to an industrial setting with self-managed work teams. Researchers formulated several hypotheses on the basis of this literature. These hypotheses were then used to develop a structural (causal) model that was tested and refined using LISREL 8. Data were collected from 320 employees concerning perceptions of several job and organization conditions, as well as the three components of burnout. Results indicated that role conflict contributed to emotional exhaustion, and participation in work teams diminished it. Job ambiguity, low co-worker support, and low job ability contributed to feelings of low personal accomplishment. These results were consistent with previous findings. When insufficient time to complete a job was removed from the workload measures, workload actually diminished burnout, a finding opposite from previous research. Other organization factors had no significant impact on burnout in this setting.

Self-managed work teams and manufacturing strategies: Cultural influences in the search for team effectiveness and competitive advantage

This article examines the relationship between manufacturing strategy and self-managed work teams. The implementation of team working and lean production as a strategy designed to improve competitive advantage is juxtaposed with the cultural influences utilizing Hofstede's (1980) model of cultural dimensions. Case study material illustrates the contrasting positions posed by the different cultural and philosophical bases of lean production and self-managed work teams. The resulting disequilibrium may explain why the implementation of teams in Western environments has proved less successful than anticipated in the manufacturing context. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

High-Performance Partnering by Self-Managed Teams in Manufacturing

This article reports on a major motorcycle manufacturer that was experiencing increasing levels of customer and employee dissatisfaction as a result of a critical inability to keep up with product demand. The manufacturer introduced self-managed work teams, work system integration of design, and process implementation strategies, which are well on the way to becoming the standard for the industry. This article reports on and describes a high-performance work system infrastructure employed to successfully implement the transformation from a traditional assembly line to self-managed team-based production.

From Quality Circles to Self-Managed Work Teams: Are Employee Teams Legal in the United States?

From Quality Circles to Self-Managed Work Teams: Are Employee Teams Legal in the United States?

Reducing turnover and improving health care in nursing homes: the potential effects of self-managed work teams.

This article describes the use of self-managed work teams (SMWTs) in a nursing home, their potential impacts on the provision of health care and employee satisfaction and turnover, and the factors reported to be important to SMWT effectiveness. Three SMWTs in a midsized nursing home in Wisconsin provide examples. Steps for implementing SMWTs are described.

WHY DO EMPLOYEES RESIST TEAMS? EXAMINING THE “RESISTANCE BARRIER” TO WORK TEAM EFFECTIVENESS

Conflict and resistance on the part of employees assigned to teams have accompanied the recent increase in the use of work teams in organizations. Previous empirical research identified several sources of employee resistance including violations of fairness, increased work‐load concerns, uncertain manager support, unclear role definitions, and lack of team member social support. From a literature review, we identified additional sources of employee resistance including trust, cultural values, and low tolerance for change. Empirically, we conducted a content analysis of 1,060 open‐ended comments of employees in two Fortune 50 organizations who were newly assigned to self‐managing work teams (SMWTs). The results suggest that employees' concerns did reflect issues of trust and low tolerance for change, but not cultural values. We discuss the implications of our findings for conflict management scholars as well as managers who are charged with handling increased conflict due to employee resistance to teams.

Empowerment, expectations, and the psychological contract—managing the dilemmas and gaining the advantages

Empowerment, participation, self-managing work teams, employee ownership and profit sharing are but a few of the many current forms of employee involvement in workplace decision making. Few theorists or practicing managers question the concept of employee involvement or its potential benefits. However, most employers realize that the degree of involvement varies with the organizational situation, the persons involved and the nature of work. Empowerment creates a dilemma. Empowering employees results in creating beliefs about entitlements that must be unfulfilled eventually. Unfulfilled beliefs about entitlements may constitute a breach of the psychological contract between employer and employee. A breach of the psychological contract may result in employee behavior that is counterproductive in terms of organizational goals.

Creating high-performance product design teams

Because of the success of self-managed production work teams, a number of companies have tried to extend these concepts to the development of high-performance knowledge teams. They have not been successful, however, because knowledge teams are not the same as production teams; each knowledge team requires its own unique high-perfor-mance model. This article, which shows how a knowledge team model was developed for and successfully applied to a product design team, describes a process that can be used to guide the development of any high-performance knowledge team. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Creating high‐performance product design teams

Because of the success of self-managed production work teams, a number of companies have tried to extend these concepts to the development of high-performance knowledge teams. They have not been successful, however, because knowledge teams are not the same as production teams; each knowledge team requires its own unique high-perfor-mance model. This article, which shows how a knowledge team model was developed for and successfully applied to a product design team, describes a process that can be used to guide the development of any high-performance knowledge team. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Integrity Testing and Job Performance Within High Performance Work Teams: A Short Note

Integrity tests have exhibited robust validity for predicting performance among traditional jobs. However, some organizations have shifted to self-managed work teams and the relationship between integrity and performance within these jobs is untested. One hundred fourteen high performance team members within a single department completed the Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI). The HPI Reliability scale was used as the integrity measure. The subjects' job performance was evaluated by their team leaders. Performance ratings were transformed to equalize ratings across the eight teams. Results indicate that integrity was related to transformed performance ratings (r = .25) within a high performance team environment. Limitations and implications are discussed.

From Quality Circles to Self-Managed Work Teams: Are Employee Teams Legal in the United States?

This paper focuses on the legal status of employee teams, such as quality circles, that are commonly used within organizations in the United States. At present, the National Labor Relation Act (the Act), which governs labor–management relations, also has direct implications for the types of employee teams that can be legally implemented within organizations. This paper reviews the governing sections of the Act and analyzes how they apply to the use of employee teams. Suggestions for avoiding or dealing with illegally formed employee teams are offered.

Developing Effective Self-Managing Work Teams in Service Organizations

A large body of research has emerged on the effective implementation of self-managing work teams (SMWTs). However, virtually all of the research has been conducted in manufacturing settings. This article draws upon the authors’research on SMWTs in two service organizations: an insurance operation and a telecommunications company. The authors focused on two research questions: First, they examined the relationships among different dimensions of SMWT effectiveness. Second, the authors explored the key success factors for SMWTs in a service context. They found that the different dimensions of SMWTs’effectiveness do not reinforce one another and are largely unrelated, and that creating an employee involvement (EI) context, work design, and team characteristics were important predictors of SMWT effectiveness. Surprisingly, team leadership was not important for SMWT effectiveness; in fact, sometimes, team leadership was negatively related to effectiveness.

An Anthropological Approach to the Study of Organizational Change: The Move to Self-Managed Work Teams

Anthropology plays a useful role in understanding work life in complex organizations. As a practicing anthropologist who works in business organizations along with specialists from other disciplines, I find that there is a particular set of skills and way of knowing that I contribute to understanding human behavior in these complex settings. In this article I plan to concentrate on three of the contributions anthropologists make: our qualitative methods, our holistic perspective and our understanding of organizational culture change. I plan to illustrate these contributions through a description of my recent work studying self-managed work teams of knowledge workers in six organizations. This work is from a three-year study conducted by a team which included specialists in anthropology, psychology, management, computer science, and engineering.

Shared governance: a literature review

This paper sets out to establish what is meant by shared governance, analyses the literature on shared governance implementation, and discusses emergent issues. The paper is based on research funded by the Department of Health (England) and by North Staffordshire NHS Trust. A literature search was undertaken using the terms ‘shared governance’ and ‘empowerment’, restricted to English language. The databases used were CINAHL, British Nursing Index, Medline, Social Sciences Citation Index and FirstSearch, and the search period was January 1988–May 1998. Initially, nearly 500 articles were identified. This search also highlighted articles describing participative management, professional practice models, and self-managed work teams. For the purposes of this review, only published articles which either described and/or evaluated the implementation of shared governance were analysed. According to these criteria, 48 studies, which were obtained by the cut-off date, were included for detailed assessment.

Survey of the Confidence Levels of Public Service Librarians in Using Electronic Reference Sources

Summary The Internet Self-Managed Work Team of the Queens Borough Public Library surveyed a stratified random sample of public service librarians to determine their confidence levels of using electronic resources to answer reference questions. Two test groups were used to fine-tune the survey instrument, and a control group of non-public service librarians was used for comparison purposes. Questions were categorized into nine types, including Internet, Catalog, Telnet and Test. The results demonstrated high confidence levels in using the Library's Catalog and lower results in using the Internet. The lowest confidence levels were for questions dealing with personal computers and handling customer complaints about the Internet. Branch size, position, or rank of the respondent did not affect confidence levels in any predictable fashion.