The Impact of Teams Operating on Self-Managed Principles

Abstract

This quantitative, cross-sectional, correlational study examined the direct and indirect effects of key influencing factors on self-managed teams in German IT companies. Although interest in self-managed work principles is increasing, prior research has paid limited attention to the roles of trust, shared understanding, job involvement, organizational commitment, and mediating mechanisms, particularly power, in shaping team effectiveness. Data were collected from 221 early- to mid-career professionals employed in IT organizations using validated survey instruments (α ≥ .79). Structural equation modeling revealed that trust significantly influenced shared understanding both directly and indirectly through power, whereas job involvement affected organizational commitment exclusively via power. Shared understanding and power emerged as central facilitators of coordination, accountability, and alignment within decentralized teams, underscoring their relevance for effective self-managed work processes. The findings provide actionable insights for organizations transitioning toward more autonomous work models and contribute to the theoretical refinement of self-managed team research by highlighting the interdependent dynamics of trust, understanding, job involvement, and power. Implications for practice and future research are discussed, particularly with regard to the design of leadership structures and relational mechanisms in decentralized organizational contexts.