Abstract
This paper examines the introduction of team-based production systems in two Australian manufacturing facilities, each being small parts of much larger global concerns. Using a longitudinal case study approach, it examines a range of problems experienced in this process and assesses the degree to which the reform ‘took root’ in the firms management systems. It concludes that despite genuine intensions to implement fundamental change in management style, the teams concept proved to be more like a temporary experiment than a new management paradigm.