Organizations are facing stiff competition in the ever‐changing global market‐place and are sure to face increasing battles in the future. To position themselves for success in the coming decade, many organizations are making the transition to an empowered workforce. In an empowering...

Describes the process of team development, emphasizing the role of the team members. Notes the importance of “catalyst” team members and the need for pace in the development process and the meeting of objectives. Gives examples from the author’s experience and concludes that the process is...

Over the last decade, the public sector of many economies has undergone various reform initiatives. A central element of these reforms is the introduction of “market‐oriented commercial practices” in the sector. Such initiatives have required public sector entities to engage in constant...

This paper deals with the leeway organizations have to develop and design self‐managing teams by using a model containing four modal verbs: must, may, can and will. “Must” refers to the need for local decision making and is considered to be the result of diversity in environmental demand...

Investigates the relationships between team‐based management systems and organizational effectiveness across a variety of settings throughout the USA. Uses a validated instrument on organizational effectiveness to gather data. Presents survey results to support the claims of team‐based...

An increased level of self‐organization, particularly in autonomous work teams, is widely believed to be a necessary part of a successful firm and a factor in many modern restructuring initiatives. This article investigates the limitations of self‐organized groups and surveys these...

Presents some of the critical questions relating to self‐directed work teams (SDWT) – small groups of employees who are responsible for producing an entire product or product segment and for managing themselves and the work that they do. While some companies have used SDWTs for many years,...

Explores the organizational components deemed necessary to the development of heterogeneous self‐managed work teams. Explains the interrelationship between organizational structure and strategies. Describes the organic structure, with emphasis on formalization, socialization, training and...

A growing number of organizations are adopting self‐directed work teams (SDWTs), but many firms experience trouble with the transition – the time needed for SDWT development. The addition of a SDWT represents a change in the organization and requires that managers adjust their use of...