High-Performing Self-Managed Work Teams

Book excerpt: `This book is a must for scholars and practitioners interested in managing work teams in organizations.... Yeatts and Hyten have written an excellent reference work. The book synthesizes a wealth of prior research into a testable model of Self-Managed Work Team performance' - Management Learning`The work is wide-ranging in its scope but retains a clear focus and coherence throughout.' International Journal of Public-Private PartnershipsSince the mid-1970s, pressure from international competition has forced business in the United States to look for better ways to achieve and maintain a competitive position. One popular tool is the self-managed work-team (SMWT). This book provides a thorough examination of SMWT both at the level of theory and at the practical level of when to use work teams to find solutions and how to develop successful teams.By examining the most widely accepted theories of work-team performance, illustrated by 10 case studies from the areas of manufacturing, public service and health care, the authors define: how high-performing self-managed work teams differ from work groups and short-term teams; the problems which compel an organization to create such teams; the factors which explain successful self-managed work teams; and how to develop high performing cost-effective teams.