Change processes and team implementation : strategic and operational issues.

This is a study of the organisational change to self-managed team working in UK-based
manufacturing organisations. There are few models to guide research into the organisational
change to team working and this study focuses on the under-researched area of the
implementation process. Descriptions of team development models imply a smooth, linear
change process. Yet this strategic change involves major restructuring at an operational level
and in reality is a complex and political transition process that unfolds in unpredictable
directions. This research proposes a processual framework to explore team development
and to increase understanding of the ways in which this transition is shaped at critical
junctures.
This research was based on case study data collected over periods of up to five years in four
brownfield, manufacturing organisations. This data provided detailed illustrations of the
major challenges facing organisations in the transition to self-management. Specifically, the
research findings indicated that the change to self-managed team working was an unfolding,
non-linear process and that its success was shaped not only by the congruence between team
design and production setting, but also by the congruence between new work structures and
supporting organisational arrangements. Senior management commitment was pivotal to the
success of the change process, as were clear definitions of operational roles and required
actions and behaviours. Finally, the research indicated the importance of key players
adopting appropriate change-driver roles and of paying attention to political tensions and
perceived threats associated with changes to traditional role demarcations.
This research increases understanding of the implementation and development of self managed
work teams at an operational level and the results may be of considerable practical
use for organisations in determining their strategies for organisational change and
development.