CLASSIFICATION OF TEAM WORK AND CONSEQUEN CES FOR SUBJECTIVE AND OBJECTIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF WORK TASKS

In the wake of the discussion about lean production, a revival of team work followed in the European auto industry. Different concepts are b eing pursued within the companies. Within a three-year-study of the wo rk organization in 12 assembly plants, a classification system was dev eloped for the description of different team work concepts. 917 produc tion workers were questioned about their subjective assessment of team work. The consequences of team work on job satisfaction and participa tion aspects were investigated. 121 job analyses were carried cut to d escribe de actual job design on the shop floor. It showed that the tas ks of production workers have not changed very much. The organizationa l change affects mainly team leaders and lint: managers. Cross-section al surveys serve to identify design alternative, but a reliable assess ment regarding the quality of measures is nor possible due to the diff erent framework within different. countries and companies. Subjective assessments do not allow reliable psychological conclusions to be draw n.