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From Taylorism to teams: organisational and institutional experimentation at France Télécom

From Taylorism to teams: organisational and institutional experimentation at France Télécom

Bellego, Maxime, Doellgast, Virginia and Pannini, Elisa ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8258-5986 (2023) From Taylorism to teams: organisational and institutional experimentation at France Télécom. Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, 29 (3). pp. 355-370. ISSN 1024-2589 (Print), 1996-7284 (Online) (doi:10.1177/10242589231179169)

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Abstract

In this article we examine work reorganisation in technician units at France Télécom (FT/Orange) following the social crisis associated with employee suicides in 2007–2009. As a result of trade union campaigns and changes in leadership, the company moved to a more collaborative model, relying on broadened skills and enhanced worker participation in decision-making. Drawing on the framework of organisational and institutional experimentation, we argue that the crisis provided an opportunity to shift from top-down, Taylorised practices to a high-involvement model based on multi-skilled teams. This new model fostered mutual gains for workers in terms of increased autonomy and broadened skills, and for the employer through improved efficiency and customer service. It was underpinned, however, by the strengthening of labour’s countervailing power following the social crisis, which encouraged and supported managers in prioritising psychosocial health as a key organisational objective.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Trade unions, France, telecommunications, psychosocial health, social partnership, work design, teams
Subjects: H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > HD28 Management. Industrial Management
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group: Greenwich Business School
Greenwich Business School > Centre for Research on Employment and Work (CREW)
Greenwich Business School > School of Management and Marketing
Last Modified: 21 Nov 2024 10:21
URI: http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/48567

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