Variations in team-based work systems tie in with the structure of production, i.e., continuous production, batch production, and assembly. Assembly production facilities utilized lean teams at all sites visited, except Yamaha Musical Instruments. The basic manufacturing of a clarinet has not changed for centuries and production is not conducive to incremental, innovative improvements. Virtual Knowledge Knowledge is created when a group of people come together to solve a problem. Virtual knowledge only exists among people.
Virtual knowledge calls for a fundamental reconsideration of management practices.
To understand how people learn requires a different way of looking at learning. Individual knowledge is transformed by getting more ideas from working together. The experience is richer when there is more input. Employment Security Formal and informal assurances that employees will have job security count for less than actual tests of whether an event, such as a downturn, will lead to job loss, retraining, etc. For many U.S. managers, employment security is seen as a constraint to management flexibility and is to be avoided.