Profesional

Research Update
Team-based Work Systems:
Lessons from the Industrial
Relations Literature
Patrick P. McHugh
School of Business and Public Management
The George Washington University

Firms in both the union and nonunion
sectors in the U.S. have encountered
competitive challenges arising from the
globalization of markets, deregulation
of industries, changes in consumer preferences andexpectations, and technological
transformation. In response, many organizations have turned, in part, to their
human resources system to engage these
challenges. As a result of these efforts,
there has been increasing support for the
view that human resource management
practices are a source of sustainable
competitive advantage (Delaney &
Huselid, 1996; Huselid, 1995; Pfeffer,
1995).Similar pressures have stimulated
change and innovation regarding human
resource practices in the public sector
as part of ongoing efforts to reduce
the cost and/or improve the quality of
governmental services (Verma & Cutcher
-Gershenfeld, 1996).
Team-based work systems are an
example of a human resource management
initiative designed to meet the demands
currently faced by organizations.Teambased work systems have been increasing
in popularity. One survey indicated that
in 1987 only 28 percent of employees
in the Fortune 1000 were employed
at firms that used self-managed work
teams, whereas by 1995 the number had
grown to 68 percent (Adier, 1997).
While there is considerable vaiiance
in the specific implementation of teambased systems both within and across
industries,there are several characteristics which are shared by most team
initiatives which provide organizations
with opportunities. For example, teams
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HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING

Richard Niehaus, D.B.A., and Paul M. Swiercz, Editors

allow for flatter organizational structures
and decentralized decision-making (Wall,
Kemp, Jackson, & Clegg, 1986). In addition, teams provide a natural structurefor
job rotation, training, and problem-solving
activities (Kochan, Cutcher-Gershenfeld,
& MacDuffie, 1992). as well as eliminate
the need for hierarchical monitoring
and control activities (Barker, 1993;
Kelly, 1982).
While the utilization of team systems
has been progressing, there are still many
challenges organizations encounter with
team systems. The extent to which organizations arechallenged by team-based
work systems is best captured by the
degree to which human resource management practitioners, as well as most
managers, are inundated with brochures
advertising conferences, seminars, and
books focusing on team issues. These
professional resources claim to provide
managers with insight into creating.
transforming, motivating, training.
compensating, and managingeffective
work teams.
There are several lessons that
employers and managers can learn
from research and theory focused on
team-based work systems in the unionized sector. These lessons, which will
be discussed briefly, include: a) evidence supporting the institutionalization
of team systems; b) discussion of factors which contribute to team system
implementation; and c) the importance
ofunderstanding assumptions underlying
the employment relationship. However,
the intent here is not to make comparisons
between union or nonunion team-based
operations, but rather to take advantage
of an underutilized industrial relations
body of research and theory. As we
shall see. this literature provides insight
regarding many of the "dilemmas" that
many union and nonunion firms haveencountered regarding the adoption
and implementation of team-based work
systems.

Teams: A New Way to Work
or Managerial Fad
One lesson that can be garnered from
examining industrial relations research
and theory revolves around the issue of
teams and managerial fads. Employees
may view the implementation of team
systems as another managerial fad. in that
it generates considerable...