Explores a managerial philosophy which focusses on teamwork. Investigates how a simple yet sound belief in people takes shape on the ground and infiltrates all aspects of organizational activity. The context is a heavy truck assembly plant which is Swedish‐owned yet located in northern France....

The area of organizational learning and the learning organization is of burgeoning interest among progressive business organizations, educationalists and consultants concerned with transformational change in turbulent business environments. A key feature of this approach to learning and managing...

The aim of this paper is to provide a framework for adopting and installing a working arrangement. In line with the current emphasis on customers, the paper argues that employees, trade unions and managers should be viewed as customers to a work system given that their support and commitment...

Surveys show that the results of top‐down oriented Business Process Reengineering projects often are to be questioned because of implementation problems due to internal resistance to change. Bottom‐up oriented Continuous Improvement projects on the other hand experience typically a lack of...

With the globalization of trade and advancement of technology, diverse task groups are required to work together. With new models of teamwork, conflict will accelerate from a variety of sources as multicultural groups emerge. This article explores this problem and challenge by presenting...

Tamrock’s hard rock mining equipment business in Australia is undergoing significant change. At the helm, Åke Annamatz, a high energy Swede, whose passion to serve the customer is matched only by the breadth of his international experience. What is outlined is the approach taken by Åke to...

This paper describes a customer service initiative in a global telecommunications cooperative, the accepted industry leader in technical quality. Not only are the customers multicultural, but the staff is diverse as well. As opposed to the traditional top‐down approach, the INTELSAT initiative...

Growing emphasis on meeting client needs and improving project performance within the construction industry has led to increasing use of fully integrated “design and build” (D&B) construction project teams. Advocates of the D&B system contend that integrating design and construction this way...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze how implementation of a management concept is interpreted by a team within a multinational company. The headquarter “rolls out” a standardized version of teamwork within a lean production system. The authors want to investigate what...

Purpose Decentralisation attempts that aim to increase job autonomy do not always succeed. This paper aims to study to what extent the tendency to maintain existing operational task divisions is an important explanation for this lack of success. Design/methodology/approach In total, 456...