Organisational culture: The Task-Team culture

In the blog last week, we explored the strengths and weaknesses of the role culture. This week we shall investigate what Handy calls the Task-Team alternative. This organisational style in many ways now challenges the role culture in terms of performance, efficiency, quality control, and customer sensitivity.

Introduction to the Task-Team culture

The role culture remains the preferred style in many cross-cultural contexts and in many sectors of the labour market such as government. However, around the mid-80s a new culture emerged from Japan that challenged the role style in terms of being far more customer focused and quality oriented. Indeed, at that time the competitive success of Japanese companies began to threaten those in the USA to the extent that there was even speculation that Japan could overtake the American economy and move into first place.

A Task-Team culture reflects the characteristics of Athena. The advantage of this new Task-Team culture was that the organisation was deliberately flattened to make far fewer levels between the top and bottom of the organisation thus allowing decision-making to be faster. Also, employees were moved from their individual roles in groups to working in more self-directed teams. From that point on many organisations decided to gradually transform from the role style to the new task-team approach.

Overview of the Task-Team culture in action

Management Style

Based on individual ability in relation to the task, rather than position in the hierarchy

Advantages of the Task-Team Culture

• Task and action orientated

• Minimum bureaucracy

• Flatter hierarchy than in a role culture

• Based on teamwork

• Focused on problem-solving

• Challenges everything in the organisation

• Involves a wider number of employees in decision-making

• Highly pragmatic

• Members share expertise and power

• Establishing high levels of motivation and staff retention

Disadvantages of the Task-Team Culture

• Requires self-motivated people

• Requires flexible employees

• Requires highly educated employees

• Requires teamwork skills

• Can be less focused on routine issues

• Suitable for more complex production or services

• Freezes when problem cannot be solved

• A challenge to some authoritarian natured cultures

• Management needs to be more democratic and secular

• High costs in terms of training and development

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Question 1

What sort of personality would be most attracted to such organisations?

Question 2

Why would the required behaviour in these cultures reflect the typical university experience?

Question 3

To what extent might an adhocracy be more suitable for higher level professionals?

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We shall explore Question 3 in the next blog.

Reference

Handy, C. (1993). Understanding organisations. Penguin.