Abstract
In the last decade, in the German industry self-directed work teams (SDWT) became a tremendous significance as a work organization for simultaneously improving productivity, flexibility and motivation. Several field and case studies show economical and social effects of self-directed work teams, but just as much show the opposite. This leads to the conclusion, that effects (and risks) of self directed work teams depend on complex and interconnected influences. Current researches focus on attributes of organizational structure and the process of implementation of self directed work teams. Additionally, we assume that the maturation of self-directed team work organization and organizational impacts like leadership, formalization of communication or degree of professionalism have to be taken in account.