Communicating sudden change in tasks and culture: The Inglis Montmagny story

The socio-technical system, which views production systems as being composed of both technological and social parts, is discussed. Socio-technical systems theory became the foundation of self-directed work teams-a way of working also known as `autonomous,´, `composite,´ and `self-regulating.´ Most literature on the subject suggests using a process approach to implementing any change to a self-regulating work style and phasing in the process over a period of from two to five years. However, it is shown how one factory prepared its workers for such a change in a much shorter period of time