Self-Managed Teams in the Steel Industry: An Interview With John Selky (Part II)

Abstract

The following is the final installment of a two-part interview with Mr. John Selky who was the President of I/N Tek / I/N Kote (I/N) from its inception in 1989 to his retirement in 1998. I/N was jointly financed and built (1987-1990) by U.S.-owned Inland Steel Company and Japanese-owned Nippon Steel Corporation. In 1998, Inland Steel Company sold itself and its ownership share in I/N to Ispat International, a Dutch-owned global steel conglomerate. I/N produces high quality cold rolled and coated steel coils using a computerized, state-of-the-art continuous production process. To most effectively accommodate the technology and the demands of increasingly competitive steel product markets, the work system at I/N is organized around self-managed teams made up of union employees.

In our first installment, published in the previous issue of The Journal of Leadership Studies, Mr. Selky explained the development and start-up of the I/N joint venture. The highly effective I/N work system emphasizing teamwork and other work system innovations is truly remarkable considering the steel production process and the traditionally mechanistic, unionized nature of U.S. steel companies.

Mr. Selky has been credited with the success of I/N's high performance work system. Although Mr. Selky's background may be found in the first installment, it is presented below for the reader's convenience.