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

Maxime Bellego, Virginia Doellgast and Elisa Pannini
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Maxime Bellego: Aix-Marseille, France
Virginia Doellgast: Cornell University, USA
Elisa Pannini: University of Greenwich, UK

Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, 2023, vol. 29, issue 3, 355-370

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.

Keywords: Trade unions; France; telecommunications; psychosocial health; social partnership; work design; teams (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:treure:v:29:y:2023:i:3:p:355-370

DOI: 10.1177/10242589231179169

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