oa Zelfsturende teams als managementmode

Self-directed Work Teams as a Management Fashion

In this article we look at the recent popularity of self-directed work teams in the Netherlands. In order to do this, we use literature on the theoretical perspective of management fashions. Studying the wave of print media texts on teams, we conclude that selfdirected work teams enjoyed a short-lived popularity in the ‘90s. Despite this temporary ‘fashionability’ of teams in the print media, available data on the application of teamwork suggests that teams are becoming entrenched in organizational praxis. Dissemination of a Dutch version of sociotechnical design has mainly taken place through research departments and curriculla from universities, thereby propagating the use of self-directed work teams. However, in the recent print media we see that attention has shifted from sociotechnical design of appropriate organizational structures to the use of teams as an end in themselves. In this sense, textual references to sociotechnics act more like a scientific legitimization of the discussion on teams.