The Economics of Teams among Technicians
This paper examines the economic logic of organizing field technicians into self-managed teams, an approach to work organization that shifts the division of labour from a hierarchical to horizontal one. Economic efficiencies arise through the integration of direct and indirect labour tasks and the alignment of'the organizational structure with the occupational logic of communities of practice among technicians. Self-managed teams absorb the monitoring and co-ordination tasks of supervisors, substantially reducing indirect labour costs but without adversely affecting objective measures of quality and labour productivity. For technicians, team membership means longer work hours, but higher wages through overtime pay. Copyright Blackwell Publishers Ltd/London School of Economics 2001.
Year of publication: |
2001
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Authors: | Batt, Rosemary |
Published in: |
British Journal of Industrial Relations. - London School of Economics (LSE). - Vol. 39.2001, 1, p. 1-24
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Publisher: |
London School of Economics (LSE) |
Saved in:
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