ange their attitudes to comply with a team based structure. Lack of participation among some members of the work team. It is important for management to overcome this reluctance and understand that everyone is equal and a part of the team. At Eaton Corporation in South Bend can, Indiana, some workers felt as if the self-directed work team movement had become somewhat of a cult. Members who are shy and not into team activities felt as if they were outcast. Other workers felt that some of their peers used the team concept to create clicks within the company. They felt as if these clicks were used to further outcast them or cause their removal from the company. Still others expressed that they did not like the empowerment. They stated that, "you feel more responsible for what you are doing - and that makes you nervous." (Aeppel, 1997) Eaton Corporation has approximately 155 factories. The one in South Bend, Indiana has a 10 percent turnover rate. This is the highest of all the 155 factories (Aeppel, 1997). The bottom line is that not every worker is cut out for teamwork. Some people work much better alone and unsupervised. Why should these people be subjected to working in an environment that does not fit their personalities? One former union shop employee walked out after six months claiming that he did not like the team aspect. He explained "they should have judged me on my job performance, not on how I interact with my teammates." (Aeppel, 1997). Another example is that of Johnson Wax. 3 black employees who claimed that self-directed work teams allowed a "pattern of racial discrimination to flourish" sued Johnson Wax in 1997. (Neuborne, 1997) Johnson Wax officials say that isn't true. At Kodak, employees were distracted from their regular positions by being increasing time needed to work within their teams. It gets so bad that at one point technical personnel were spending 30 to 40 percent of their entire day in meetings. As ...
