The mini‐company: A specification of sociotechnical business systems

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...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Personnel review 2002-01, Vol.31 (3), p.338-355
Main Authors: de Leede, Jan, Looise, Jan Kees, Verkerk, Maarten
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Diversified companies
Employees
Management styles
Manufacturing
Open systems
Studies
System theory
Teams
Teamwork
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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
1758-6933
DOI:10.1108/00483480210422741