Charles Dull, vice president of Aid Association for Lutherans (AAL), t
alks about how self-directed teams and total quality management put hi
s organization in the vanguard of the financial services industry. As
the nation's largest fraternal benefits society, AAL, has always held
a prominent position, based on total assets and independent ratings. T
hen, during the 1980s, the need to reduce staff and provide better ali
gnment with field personnel led to the implementation of self-directed
teams, a concept borrowed from the manufacturing sector. As one of th
e first financial service organizations to use this innovation, AAL fo
und itself enjoying national attention. Everyone assumed that AAL's te
ams were part of a total quality management system. Not necessarily so
, Dull explains. AAL is now going to a second major transition, using
criteria for the Malcolm Baldrige Award as the basis for quality impro
vement.