Toward Effective Employee Involvement: An Analysis Of Parallel And Self-Managing Teams

Abstract

Employee involvement (EI) is a viable response to the demands of the 1990s. However, current approaches to EI utilize the least effective mechanisms. This study examines EI and identifies the strengths and weaknesses of parallel and self-managing work teams (SMWT). Four issues are developed, they are: the roles of problem-solving groups as parallel organizational structures; limitations to the use of parallel groups; the successes of SMWT, and the concepts behind SMWT. SMWT represent an important EI technique for successful organizational change.