Management by Team

Abstract

For many service organizations, employees are the “providers of values” to customers. Yet prescriptions for the productivity challenges of the service sector usually focus on automation and other technologies. Based on the case example of Virginia Blood Services, a health services organization in the highly dynamic blood transfusion segment of the health‐care industry, illustrates how to utilize employees more effectively through internal marketing and adopting a management by team approach, one that is quite different from the currently popular approach that emphasizes self‐directed work teams. Describes the basic steps taken and some of the training materials used to achieve improved communication, an increase in morale and productivity, and more timely problem anticipation and problem solving.