This paper reviews the growing popularity of self-managing teams as an
approach to work design in contemporary organizations. The main charac
teristics of self-managing teams are outlined and examples of workplace
change involving self-managing teams in several large Australian organiza
tions are given. Evidence as to the effectiveness of self-managing teams is
reviewed, along with theoretical explanations for their impact on performance,
and employee attitudes and behaviour. It is concluded that self-managing
teams are not necessarily required in all organizational contexts and that
there are potential (though not insurmountable) difficulties arising from their
use.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Anderson, N.R. & West, M.A. (1994) The Team Climate Inventory: Manual and User's Guide Windsor, Berks.: ASE Press.
2.
Bandura, A. (1986) Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
3.
Barker, J.R. (1993) Tightening the iron cage: Concertive control in self-managing teams. Administrative Science Quarterly,38: 408-37.
4.
Barrett, G.V. (1991) Comparison of skill-based pay with traditional job evaluation techniques. Human Resource Management Review , 1: 97-105.
5.
Beaumont, P.B. (1992) The US human resource management literature: A review. In G. Salaman (ed.), Human Resource Strategies. London: SAGE Publications.
6.
Bettenhausen, K.L. (1991) Five years of groups research: What we have learned and what needs to be addressed. Journal of Management, 17(2): 345-81.
7.
Boxall, P.F. (1993) The significance of human resource management: A reconsideration of the evidence. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 4: 645-65.
8.
Breaugh, J.A. (1989) The work autonomy scales: Additional validity evidence . Human Relations, 42(11): 1033-56.
9.
Campion, M., Medsker, G.J., & Higgs, A.C. (1993) Relations between work group characteristics and effectiveness: Implications for designing effective work groups. Personnel Psychology, 46: 823-47.
10.
Chems, A.B. (1976) Behavioural science engagements: Taxonomy and dynamics . Human Relations, 29: 783-92.
11.
Clegg, C.W. & Wall, T.D. (1987) Managing factory automation. In F. Blackler & D.J. Oborne (eds), Information Technology and People: Designing For the FutureLeicester: British Psychological Society.
12.
Cohen, S. (1991) Teams and teamwork: Future directions (CEO Publication No. G91-9 (194)). Center for Effective Organizations, School of Business Administration, University of Southern California.
13.
Cohen, S.G., & Ledford, S.G. (1994) The effectiveness of self-managing teams: A quasi-experiment . Human Relations, 47(1): 13-43.
14.
Cooper, R., & Foster, M. (1971) Sociotechnical systems. American Psychologist, 26: 467-74.
15.
Cordery, J.L. (1985) Multi-skilling and its implications for work design . Human Resource Management Australia, 23: 55-8.
16.
Cordery, J.L. & Wall, T.D. (1985) Work design and supervisory practice: A model. Human Relations, 38: 425-41.
17.
Cordery, J.L., Mueller, W.S. & Smith, L.M. (1991) Attitudinal and behavioural outcomes of autonomous group working: A longitudinal field study. Academy of Management Journal, 34: 464-76.
18.
Cordery, J.L. (1995) Autonomous work groups. In N. Nicholson (ed.), The Blackwell Dictionary of Organizational Behavior. Oxford: Blackwell Press.
19.
Cordery, J.L., Sevastos, P.P. & Parker, S. (1992) Job design, skill utilization and psychological well-being at work: Preliminary test of a model. Paper presented at the XXV International Congress of Psychology, Brussels, July 1992.
20.
Cummings, T.G. (1978) Self-regulating work groups: A sociotechnical synthesis . Academy of Management Review, 3: 625-34.
21.
Denison, D.R. (1982) Sociotechnical design and self-managing work groups: The impact of control. Journal of Occupational Behaviour, 3: 297-314.
22.
Goodman, P.S., Devadas, R., & Hughson, T.G. (1988) Groups and productivity: Analyzing the effectiveness of self-managing teams. In J. P. Campbell and R. J. C. & Associates (eds), Productivity in Organizations (pp. 295-327). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
23.
Guest, D.E. (1990) Human resource management and the American Dream . Journal of Management Studies, 27(4): 399-416.
24.
Guest, D.E. (1992) Right enough to be dangerously wrong: An analysis of the 'In Search of Excellence' phenomenon. In G. Salaman (ed.), Human Resource Strategies. London: SAGE Publications.
25.
Guzzo, R.A., Yost, P.R., Campbell, R.J., & Shea, G.P. (1993) Potency in groups: Articulating a construct. British Journal of Social Psychology, 32: 87-106.
Hodson, R., Welsh, S., Rieble, S., Jamison, C.S., & Creighton, S. (1993) Is worker solidarity undermined by autonomy and participation? Pattern from the ethnographic literature. American Sociological Review, 58(June): 398-416.
28.
Klimoski, R., & Mohammed, S. (1994) Team mental model: Construct or metaphor?Journal of Management, 20(2): 403-37.
29.
Lawler, E.E.; Ledford, G.E. & Mohrman, S.A. (1989) Employee Involvement in America: A Study of Contemporary Practice. Houston, Texas: American Productivity and Quality Center.
30.
Lawler, E.E.; Mohrman, S.A. & Ledford, G.E. (1992) Employee Involvement and Total Quality Management: Practices and Results in Fortune 1000 Companies. San Francisco : Jossey-Bass.
31.
Little, L. (1988) The Group Participation Index: A measure of work group autonomy. Asia Pacific Human Resource Management, 26: 23-36.
32.
Majchrzak, A., & Gasser, L. (1992). Towards a conceptual framework for specifying manufacturing work-groups congruent with technological change. International Journad of Computer Integrated Manufacturing, 5: 118-31.
33.
Manz, C.C., & Angle, H. (1986) Can group self-management mean a loss of personal control: Triangulating a paradox. Group and Organization Studies , 11: 309-34.
34.
Manz, C.C., & Sims, H.P. (1982) The potential for 'groupthink' in autonomous work groups. Human Relations, 35(9): 773-84.
35.
Manz, C.C., & Sims, H.P. (1987) Leading workers to lead themselves: The external leadership of self-managing teams. Administrative Science Quarterly,32: 106-28.
36.
Manz, C.C., & Sims, H.P. (1991) Superleadership: Beyond the myth of heroic leadership . Organizational Dynamics, Spring: 18-35.
37.
Neuman, G.A. (1991) Autonomous work group selection. Journal of Business and Psychology, 6(2): 283-91.
38.
O'Brien, G.E. (1983) Skill utilization, skill variety and the job characteristics model. Australian Journal of Psychology, 35(3): 461-8.
39.
O'Brien, G.E. (1986) The psychology of work and unemployment. Chichester: Wiley.
40.
Oldham, G.R., & Hackman, J.R. (1980) Work design in the organizational context. Research in Organizational Bebavior, 2: 247-78.
41.
Osterman, P. (1994) How common is workplace transformation and who adopts it?Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 47: 173-88.
42.
Pasmore, W., Francis, C., Haldeman, J., & Shani, A. (1982) Sociotechnical systems: A North American reflection on empirical studies of the Seventies. Human Relations, 35: 1179-204.
43.
Pasmore, W.A. (1988) Designing Effective Organizations: The Sociotechnical Systems Perspective. New York: Wiley.
44.
Pearce, J.A., & Ravlin, E.C. (1987) The design and activation of self-regulating work groups. Human Relations, 40(11): 751-82.
45.
Rousseau, D.M. (1978) technological differences in job characteristics, employee satisfaction and motiovation: A synthesis of job design research and socio-technical systems theory. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 19: 18-42.
Storey, J. (1992) Developments in the Management of Human Resources . Oxford: Blackwell Press.
48.
Storey, J. (1993) The take-up of human resource management by mainstream companies: Key lessons from research. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 4: 529-53.
49.
Sundstrom, E., De Meuse, K.P., & Futrell, D. (1990) Work teams. American Psychologist , 45(2): 120-33.
50.
Susman, G.I. (1979) Autonomy at work: A Sociotechnical Analysis of Participative Management. New York: Praeger.
51.
Sydney Water Board (1994) New ways of working at Sydney's sewage treatment plants. Paper presented at conference Beyond Best Practice, University of Western Sydney, Nepean, 27 September 1994.
52.
Thorsrud, E. (1972) Job design in the wider context. In L.E. Davis & J.C. Taylor (eds), Design of Jobs. Harmondsworth : Penguin.
53.
Waldersee, R. & Blackstock, L. (1993) Organisational change in Australia: What's really happening? Centre for Corporate Change Paper 037. Australian Graduate School of Management, University of New South Wales.
54.
Wall, T.D., Kemp, N.J., Jackson, P.R., & Clegg, C.W. (1986) Outcomes of autonomous work groups: A long-term field experiment. Academy of Management Journal, 29(2): 280-304.
55.
Wall, T.D., Jackson, P.R., & Davids, K. (1992) Operator work design and robotics system performance: A serendipitous field study. Journal of Applied Psychology , 77: 353-62.
56.
Wall, T.D. & Davids, K. (1992) Shopfloor work organisation and advanced manufacturing technology. In C.L. Cooper & I. Robertson (eds), International Review of Industrial and Organisational Psychology. Chichester: Wiley.
57.
Wall, T.D. (1986) Advanced manufacturing technogy: The case for the operator midwife. In H. Noori (ed.), Managing New Technology: Today's Competitive Weapon. Waterloo, Ontario: Wilfred Laurier University Press .
58.
Walton, R.E. & Susman, G.I. (1987) People policies for the new machines. Harvard Business Review, March-April: 98-106.
59.
Walton, R.E. (1985) From control to commitment. Harvard Business Review, March: 77-84.
60.
Warr, P.B. (1987) Work, Unemployment and Mental Health. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
61.
Warr, P.B. (1990) Decision latitude, job demands and employee well-being . Work and Stress, 4(4): 285-94.
62.
Wellins, R.S., Byham, W.C. & Wilson, J.M. (1991) Empowered Teams: Creating Self-Directed Work Groups that Improve Quality, Productivity, and Participation. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
63.
Williams, K.J. & Lillibridge, J.R. (1992) Perceived self-competence and organizational behavior. In K. Kelley (ed.), Issues, Theory & Research in Industrial/Organizational Psychology. New York: Elsevier Science Publishers B.V.
64.
Wood, R.E. & Bandura, A. (1989). Social cognitive theory of organizational management . Academy of Management Review, 14: 361-84.
65.
Yorks, L. & Whitsett, D.A. (1985) Hawthorn, Topeka and the issue of science versus advocacy in organisational behavior. Academy of Management Review, 10: 21-30.
66.
Zuboff, S.Z. (1988) In the Age of the Smart Machine: The Future of Work and Power. Oxford: Heinemann Business.
