Achieving customer service quality through teamwork:

This research investigated the effect of changing the workplace of a central administrative cell from a traditional bureaucratic structure to a team orientated quality focused unit. Responses from the members of an university administration group adopting a quality intervention were contrasted with reports from another similar service campus group which continued to operate with the functional structure. Questionnaires were administered annually, on three occasions, to these two groups as well as to the clients of the group that underwent the team quality orientated job redesign. The results showed that only the employees in the group, which adopted the team orientation, perceived features of their jobs improved as did their job satisfaction. Moreover, both objective data and perceptual responses, from the clients, indicated that after entering into the new work arrangements the group provided better service quality. The stimulus for this job intervention, and how it was installed, is described. The study findings are discussed in terms of challenges and issues confronting practitioners in the contemporary workplace.