Work Organization, Technology, and Performance in Customer Service and Sales
研究了一家大型工会化区域贝尔运营公司的客户服务和销售人员，发现自我管理团队能显著提升服务质量并带来9.3%的销售增长，结合新技术后增长达17.4%，而全面质量管理则无显著效果。
The author analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of Total Quality Management and Self-Managed Teams, as compared to mass production approaches to service delivery, among customer service and sales workers in a large unionized regional Bell operating company. Participation in self-managed teams was associated with a statistically significant improvement in self-reported service quality and a 9.3% increase in sales per employee. In combination with new technology, teams boosted sales 17.4%. These effects persisted over time. Total Quality Management, by contrast, did not affect performance. This study represents a strong test of the efficacy of teams because theory predicts weak outcomes for self-managed teams among service and sales employees in establishments where technology and organizational structure limit opportunities for self-regulation, the nature of work and technology do not require interdependence, and downsizing creates pervasive job insecurity-conditions found at the company studied here.