Study on the implementation of work organization in semi-autonomous groups: a quantitative survey of firms operating in Brazil

Abstract

This paper describes a research on semi-autonomous workgroups and teamwork in an intersectoral sample of 49 firms operating in Brazil, which stated that they use self-managed teams in their operations. A questionnaire was applied containing questions aimed at characterizing the firms, the scope of their teams' autonomy and the results achieved through their use. The findings were subjected to a statistical analysis of nonparametric variables to identify possible correlations among given characteristics of the firms, the scope of the teams' autonomy and the respective results. A positive correlation was found between the degree of autonomy of the teams and results associated with their higher learning ability, their greater flexibility in responding to changes in the production setup and the higher efficiency of information flows. The method (questionnaire and statistical treatment) can be replicated by other researchers on other samples of firms. This is a survey whose results allow for the addition of quantitative data to understand and analyze the use of self-management in Brazilian companies.

Keywords::

• autonomy
• quantitative research
• self-management
• survey
• teamwork
• work management and organization