The high‐performance organization : developing teamwork where it counts

Using a quasi‐experimental design, reports the findings of a study on the impact of high‐performance work teams on job characteristics, employee satisfaction, organization culture and quality. A naturally occurring control (n = 50) and experimental group (n = 50) were identified in one research site and questionnaires were distributed to both groups prior to and eight months into the high‐performance intervention. The results reveal a significant improvement in work variety, autonomy, satisfaction with feedback on performance, satisfaction with work allocation and suggestion/idea input. With respect to organization culture and beliefs, it was found that seven of the ten dimensions measured improved significantly. Finally, some quality gains were witnessed with only minimal extra resources.