ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the structural changes made at Ayr, and examines the reasoning behind them, their transient nature and their implications. It aims to examine how management objectives with respect to technical and product change were translated into new organization structures. ‘Product focus’ was however the clear organizing principle with each sub section working with a multiskilled team which serviced the Micro 11 business. The role of the team leader in each case was to encourage group autonomy, and to withdraw. This was seen therefore as a transient organization structure, dependent on the willingness and ability of high performance work group members to accept responsibility for their own decisions. Team members would thus eventually report direct to their product manager. The Micro 11 group was organized in a way that made formal job titles less meaningful than in a conventional plant and attempted to reduce interdepartment barriers.
