Over forty years ago, Eric Trist and his colleagues developed the concept of self-.
Combining an individuals talents and expertise in a team setting is a concept that only about 50% of American companies utilize currently. Companies like Hallmark and Harley Davidson have found that the work team model has increased profitability and productivity. For the purposes of this paper a comparison of Chevron's Kern River Division will be made with a nursing home management to analyze whether the team model will work in the nursing home industry effectively.
This trend of work teams is related directly to an increase in productivity, decline in absenteeism and improved morale among employees. Self-managed work teams are counter to the traditional hierarchies that are a staple in American companies. Convincing a company to create an environment that develops risk-taking and creativity is a challenge. The conversion to the team concept versus the more traditional structure is not a quick or necessarily easy process. It would be unrealistic to assume that there will be no difficulties in the name of progress. Americans are used to being judged by their own efforts. To suddenly be responsible for another's work is often met with resistance. Communication is the key to a successful work team. Team members must be able to step away from fixed beliefs about how their department is organized and see the bigger picture of the team model, if it is to succeed. .
An excellent example of the success of a team model is the Kern River division of the Chevron Corporation. Prior to 1995 a fundamental problem existed with the Kern River Unit. The team was disorganized and spread out geographically. Work processes were duplicated and resources were poorly utilized. Chevron, recognizing this, .
Work Teams .
reorganized and downsized the unit, designing a self-managed work team that would streamline processes and ultimately save the company resources and money.