The mini-company

Sociotechnical systems theory (STS) does not address in full the implications of the team-context relations, despite its open systems character. There is a need to open STS into a sociotechnical business systems (STBS) theory and practice. We observe three interrelated aspects that are important for...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Personnel review 2002-06, Vol.31 (3), p.338-355
Main Authors: de Leede, Jan, Kees Looise, Jan, Verkerk, Maarten
Format: Article
Language:English
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Sociotechnical systems theory (STS) does not address in full the implications of the team-context relations, despite its open systems character. There is a need to open STS into a sociotechnical business systems (STBS) theory and practice. We observe three interrelated aspects that are important for STBS. First, the design of the production structure is a traditional STS aspect. Second, the design of the control structure on the team level needs an elaboration compared with STS. The third aspect is the social-dynamic alignment. We describe the mini-company concept and argue that this concept is a specification of STBS covering the three aspects. The case of the implementation of mini-companies in a Dutch manufacturing plant illustrates the strengths of the concept.
ISSN:0048-3486
DOI:10.1108/00483480210422741