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Team Membership and Experiences of Work in the Finnish Context

University of Tampere

Satu Kalliola

University of Tampere

The article aims to shed light on teamwork in Finland, where many institutional factors mould employees' experiences of it. Representative survey data from Finnish workplaces are analysed from the frameworks of contextual, positive and critical accounts on teamwork. A qualitative analysis of the role of centralized income agreements and the quality of the industrial relations gives evidence to support the contextual accounts. The results of the survey tell how the experiences of effective teamwork are related to the degree of autonomy of the teams, employees' discretion, the possibility to utilize one's skills and the quality of social relations within the team, and thus support positive accounts. On the other hand, the results of the survey relate the team members' experiences of working harder than non-members, supporting critical accounts.

Key Words: autonomy • industrial relations • stress • teamwork • utilization of skills

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Economic and Industrial Democracy, Vol. 28, No. 4, 552-588 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0143831X07082196


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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Niemelä, J. Articles by Kalliola, S. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?