Hewlett-Packard now employs about 1,700 workers at its Leixlip, Co Kildare plant. This figure will rise to 2,000 by the end of the year. Since its founding in 1938 by William Hewlett and David Packard, the company has been known as a leader in high technology equipment, including computers and printers. It has fostered a team-based, participative culture throughout its history, focused around a culture of high performance.

This has helped maintain its long standing elevated status among the Fortune list of top companies. In fact, surveys of the Fortune 1000 companies in recent years reveal a very significant increase in the use of self-managed work teams. They are now widespread throughout the US. For example, one study reports that more than four out of every five American firms have now organised at least some of their employees in work groups or teams. Within Richard Branson's Virgin Group, all of the companies are home-grown by teams of people, who are given the necessary resources and then left to get on with it. This team scenario succeeds in attracting many of the brightest people and in getting the best out of them in terms of effort, creativity and flexibility.

Over the last 20 years, the organisation of employees into teams has become increasingly popular around the world.

Even in Ireland, a number of prominent organisations like Bord na Mona, Galtee and Aughinish Alumina have gone this route, while many teams are to be found in our hi-tech companies and in the financial services sector.

According to a UCD survey, teamworking - though still fairly novel in Ireland - is widely practised here and, in comparison with most other countries, we rank high up on the "teamwork" international league table.

Last year, IBEC reported that nearly two-thirds of its national sample of enterprises use teamwork, and as many as a quarter of these use it across all of their functions. That means it is to be found in the production, maintenance, customer service and support, distribution, quality and administrative activities in a significant proportion of Irish-based organisations.

Proponents of team-based organisation contend that its merit is obvious for all to see, as teams are the sum of their members' efforts, which are greater than each individual's efforts in isolation.

In effect, the result is that there are no winners on a losing team and no losers on a winning team.

Consequently, high-performing companies increasingly believe that teams, rather than business units of individuals, are the basic building blocks of a successful organisation.

The advantages of working in teams have been shown to include enhanced productivity and quality, benefits for employees, reduced costs and greater organisational innovation, creativity and flexibility. Facilitating the trend toward flatter organisational structures and relaxed lines of demarcation are also often part of the package.

IBEC claims that the bottom line for many companies, when asked why they changed to teamwork, was that they had no choice. They had to do something to stay in business. Some recent reports have concluded that teamworking in Ireland is characterised by limited autonomy for the work group and tight management supervision.

Despite the rising interest in it here, Dr John Geary at UCD thinks that the prospects for the practice are not bright. He argues that its use in an "advanced form" in Ireland is rare. The move to more participative workplaces requires fundamental changes in the attitudes of both employers and trade unions.

There is substance to this view. The teamwork initiative is often motivated by management's agenda alone. This may be comprised of "lean production", "continuous improvement" and "just-in-time" efficiencies, rather than the (mutually beneficial) needs and capacities of employees for autonomy and greater rewards. Allied to this is the reality that planning the transfer of authority from management to teams is acknowledged as the most difficult and distinctive part of the process.

Old habits die hard - especially if it means relinquishing managerial powers, or letting go of the traditional lines of demarcation. Nevertheless, given the widespread interest in the subject, it is encouraging that both of the social partners - IBEC and the ICTU - have produced policy documents supportive of teamwork.

This can be explained by its impact in improving the competitiveness of Irish business and the quality of working life for employees. Union involvement in the implementation of teams can be to everyone's advantage.

While it may slow the process of organisational change, it also brings invaluable expertise to bear, as well as legitimising the necessity for the proposed change. The Bord na Mona case is a prime example of this.

Of course, it is also true that management rhetoric on the topic can be some distance from reality. For example, getting managers themselves to work as a team is not always easy. They may be more concerned with achieving their own personal and departmental goals. So seeking co-operation from colleagues does not necessarily mean cultivating a sense of openness, trust or common purpose. Indeed, the team philosophy may fly in the face of the political culture that frequently runs right through management teams. Little wonder, then, that the way that teams are set up - and the resources devoted to team building - frequently determine their success.

As any follower of sport will tell you, not all teams are successful. In fact, some are even relegated. From the employer's perspective this is a risky business. As successful organisations become increasingly dependent on getting results through effective teamwork, much more emphasis is being placed upon the need to predict whether or not teams will succeed before they begin to work together.

The British academic, Mr Meredith Belbin, has conducted some fascinating work in this area, with particular reference to management teams. Two of his most important conclusions to date are that:

neither teams composed of the brightest and most accomplished managers, nor teams of extroverts or introverts, performed anywhere near the best (i.e. "too many cooks spoil the broth");

the most effective teams, especially during times of change, require a range of specific and different roles (eg. a co-ordinator, an implementor, a specialist, a finisher.).

Teamwork is not the fad of the month. Nor is it some new way to manipulate workers into producing more at their own expense to enrich owners.

Managers and many independent experts agree that teams can be the most fruitful path for organisations to follow. According to Dr Noel Harvey at Galway RTC, a recent survey of 6,000 firms across the EU found that European firms were much further behind Japanese and American companies in their use of such novel forms of work organisation. Indeed, it is widely believed that much of the success of their corporations is due to teamwork.

The EU's view is clear: the competitiveness and future of industry in these islands is dependent on making far-reaching changes in existing organisations. Barriers to teamwork must be overcome. The impact of the recently established National Centre of Partnership at the Department of the Taoiseach represents a significant initiative and vehicle for change in this area. But changing attitudes is never easy.

Dr Gerard McMahon is a lecturer at the faculty of business, Dublin Institute of Technology - ppl1@indigo.ie