FöRFATTARE
Lindgren, Ulrika

DATUM
2000-02-02

INSTITUTION
Industriell ekonomi och samhällsvetenskap / Industriell marknadsföring och e-handel

SAMMANFATTNING
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.

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.

ISSN 1404-5508 / ISRN LTU-SHU-EX--00/014--SE / NR 2000:014