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Full-Text Articles in Business
Who Benefits From Teams? Comparing Workers, Supervisors, And Managers, Rosemary Batt
Who Benefits From Teams? Comparing Workers, Supervisors, And Managers, Rosemary Batt
Rosemary Batt
This paper offers a political explanation for the diffusion and sustainability of team-based work systems by examining the differential outcomes of team structures for 1200 workers, supervisors, and middle managers in a large unionized telecommunications company. Regression analyses show that participation in self-managed teams is associated with significantly higher levels of perceived discretion, employment security, and satisfaction for workers and the opposite for supervisors. Middle managers who initiate team innovations report higher employment security, but otherwise are not significantly different from their counterparts who are not involved in innovations. By contrast, there are no significant outcomes for employees associated with …
The Economic Costs And Benefits Of Self-Managed Teams Among Skilled Technicians, Rosemary Batt
The Economic Costs And Benefits Of Self-Managed Teams Among Skilled Technicians, Rosemary Batt
Rosemary Batt
This paper estimates the economic costs and benefits of implementing teams among highly-skilled technicians in a large regional telecommunications company. It matches individual survey and objective performance data for 230 employees in matched pairs of traditionally-supervised and self-managed groups. Multivariate regressions with appropriate controls show that teams do the work of supervisors in 60-70% less time, reducing indirect labor costs by 75 percent per team. Objective measures of quality and labor productivity are unaffected. Team members receive additional overtime pay that represents a 4-5 percent annual wage premium, which may be viewed alternatively as a share in the productivity gains …
Work Organization, Technology, And Performance In Customer Service And Sales, Rosemary Batt
Work Organization, Technology, And Performance In Customer Service And Sales, Rosemary Batt
Rosemary Batt
The author analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of Total Quality Management and Self-Managed Teams, as compared to mass production approaches to service delivery, among customer service and sales workers in a large unionized regional Bell operating company. Participation in self-managed teams was associated with a statistically significant improvement in self-reported service quality and a 9.3% increase in sales per employee. When combined with new technology, teams boosted sales an additional 17.4%. These effects persisted over time. Total Quality Management, by contrast, did not affect performance. This study represents a “strong test” of the efficacy of teams because theory predicts weak …