Strategic Management of Teams

STRATEGIC Management of TEAMS

"Those companies that learn the secrets of creatingcross-functional teams are winning the battle for global marketshare and profits. Those that don't are losingout."--BusinessWeek

It's no secret that alternative teams are increasingly recognizedas a highly effective means to improve quality and operationalefficiency, decentralize authority, and motivate workers at everylevel of an organization. Less well understood, and rarely touchedupon in the literature, is the fact that cross-functional teams arehighly versatile strategic resources and key elements in the designand execution of strategic management initiatives.

In this book, noted author, scholar, and authority on teammanagement, David Cleland, demonstrates that alternative,cross-functional teams are both critical to the management ofchange within an organization and building blocks in the design andexecution of product/service and process strategy. He exploresspecific aspects of strategic team management and provides clear,concise recommendations on the design and implementation ofteam-based strategy.

Topics of particular interest include:
* Identification and discussion of alternative uses for teams indealing with product/service and process changes within theorganizations
* Using teams to encourage cross-functional andcross-organizational focus in the use of enterprise resources
* How teams can enable everyone in the enterprise to participate inthe design, development, and implementation of strategies that willmake the organization more competitive
* How the strategic use of teams changes organizational culture
* Coping with the negative aspects of teams
* How the use of teams has created "Teamocracy"--an organizationaldesign driven by operational and strategic teams

Strategic Management of Teams is must reading for managers inindustry, government service, or any large organization that mustadapt continually to technological, economic, and social change. Itis also an indispensable resource for students in industrialengineering, technology management, and business administration whowish to enter the job market armed with the very latest inmanagement skills.

This eye-opening book reveals the enormous potential ofalternative, cross-functional teams as forces for change within anorganization and as building blocks in the design and execution ofcompetitive strategy. It gives managers the tools, techniques, andinformation they need to integrate teams into the overall strategicplan of the organization.

Author David Cleland looks at teams from the point of view of amanager who envisions using teams as strategic devices in dealingwith change. He explains how to determine whether and which teamsshould be put in place and how to make the most of them. Heexplains:
* How to prepare the enterprise for the creation of teams andprepare team players for their new roles in facilitating changewithin the organization
* How teams can sharpen the enterprise's competitive edge--and howmanagerial roles must change to allow this to happen
* Specific team functions: reengineering through teams;self-managed production teams; benchmarking; concurrent engineeringteams; sundry teams; and more
* The positive and negative impact of teams on corporate culture
* Results that teams have achieved for organizations that haveimplemented them