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• Carnall, C. A. (1982). 'Semi-Autonomous Work Groups and the Social Structure of the Organization'. The Journal of Management Studies Oxford19(3):277-294.

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The practical potential of semi-autonomous work groups for organization design purposes in modern enterprises is beginning to be recognized. Semi-autonomous group-working requires the establishment of work groups with specific responsibilities and with conditional autonomy to undertake the task in a way to be decided within the group but constrained by the conditions within which it works. Despite benefits including the release of human resources of creativity, capacity, and commitment, implementation presents problems. A theoretical scheme is developed in an effort to account for known implementation problems. The crucial element in the theoretical sketch is that the extent of the autonomy possessed by the work groups will influence the outcome and create specific problems. Case study evidence is used to illustrate its application to various specific implementation problems and barriers to organizational change.