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...

Purpose – This paper seeks to examine how aerospace design and integration teams in a highly partnered supply chain are able to leverage extant capabilities and develop new ones when faced with the necessity to adapt to organizational change. Design/methodology/approach – Building on the...

Purpose – This paper aims to address the issue of sustainability of excellence in today's turbulent environment and evaluates the effectiveness (to achieve objectives) of quality strategy in a DAP‐winning company. Design/methodology/approach – A face‐to‐face interview and a literature...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contribute learning, knowledge creation and knowledge transfer obtained through a web-based role-play simulation environment as an intelligent approach towards organisational change. Such change occurs in the organisation during its transition to a new...

Notes that while total quality management has elements in behavioural and culture change which look to empowerment, the reality has been a selective, if not cynical, use of tools and language. Points out that successful TQM initiatives abound and that often they involve a method of...