This paper aims to report on research into human resource management within an operations management environment; specifically, operational team‐work amongst health care workers in a hospital.
Eight operational teams within a UK National Health Service hospital took part and the research used a combination of survey and group discussions.
The results show the construct of the team had little operational definition. Key factors identified as contributing to effective team‐working include: leadership; frequency of team meetings; a climate of trust and openness. There was limited evidence of truly multi‐disciplinary teams and of organisational support for team‐working.
The methodology applied was appropriate, generating data to facilitate discussion and draw specific conclusions therefrom. A perceived limitation is the single case approach; however, Remenyi et al. argue this can be enough to add to the body of knowledge. In terms of implications this paper demonstrates that team‐working is no panacea; as part of a bundle of good operations management practices it is associated with efficiency, effectiveness, and in this case improved patient care.
The paper suggests a new input, process, output model of effective team‐working and identifies issues to be faced in adopting a strategy of developing an operational team‐based organisation.
The value of this paper is the conclusion that the importance of operational team‐working is as a paradigm for assessing how effectively individuals and groups work together, rather than as a specific organisational form with an optimal size.
