Reasons for the Renewed Popularity of Autonomous Work Groups

Until recently, only relatively few Northern European companies had organized their operations by use of autonomous work groups, although the first literature on this subject stems from the 1950s. Yet this seems to be changing. From recent publications and the author′s experience it appears that the diffusion of autonomous work groups is increasing relatively suddenly. A survey among eight cases in six companies (two Dutch, four Swedish) shows that recent changes in the marketplace and in available technology are the main reasons why this increase has taken place and why, according to the companies, this is the very moment to start using autonomous work groups. On the one hand these changes enable the companies to introduce autonomous work groups, while on the other these changes force companies to do so.