UNDERSTANDING THE LINK BETWEEN TEAM AUTONOMY AND EFFECTIVENESS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND SYNTHESIS

摘要

In a rapidly changing and uncertain business environment, modern organizations are constantly examining methods to enhance organizational outcomes, flexibility and organizational learning. Developing structures based on self-managing teams has been one of the strategies many Fortune 500 companies use today to increase flexibility. Although research has shown great potential in the use of self-managed teams with respect to enhanced performance and attitudinal outcomes, there is still skepticism about its effectiveness. The transition from externally managed to autonomous teams is affected by many contextual and internal team factors and it typically requires adjustment in the management context as well as the team internal processes. This research will explore the factors that mediate and moderate the impact of self-managing teams on both performance and affective outcomes. This research sheds light into the intervening factors that influence the successful implementation of self-managed teams. A systematic review, analysis and synthesis of prior research was conducted based on prior empirical studies on self-managing teams. The results of this paper will serve as a guide for managers who want to understand the context factors and processes that influence the success of structures based on self-managing teams. This paper also proposes directions for future research in the area of self-managing teams.