Creating high-performance organizations by using self- directed work teams: case studies of three Swedish manufacturing companies
AUTHOR
Lindgren, Ulrika
DATE
2000-02-02
DEPARTMENT
Business Administration and Social Sciences / Industrial marketing and e-commerce
SUMMARY A qualitative multiple-case study of three Swedish manufaturing companies,
which all use self-directed work teams in the prodution, has been conducted.
The companies part of the case studies are Alimak AB, Hydrauto, and Lövånger
ELektronik AB, and personal interviews were used for the data colletion.
The twentyfirst century implies a complete new environment for companies,
since the business world is reshaped by new forces. Traditional conditions
are blurring, and the old rules of management no longer make sense. The
successful organizations will be the ones that are highly flexible and can
shift direction whenever necessary. To accomplish this, traditional, slow
and hierarchical organizations must be broken apart to fit the requirements.
To remain competitive in the future, managers need to increasingly trust the
contributions of all members of the organization, and create a performance
environment that optimizes productivity of the work force. Pressure is put
on companies to find new ways to use the human resoures in an organization
more efficient. One promising way to accomplish this is Self-Directed Work
Teams. The aim with this study is to investigate how companies use self-
directed work teams to strengthen their performance.
ISSN 1404-5508 / ISRN LTU-SHU-EX--00/014--SE / NR 2000:014
