Organizational value streams as multiteam systems: an ethnographic case study

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the integration challenges during the early stages of implementation of value streams as team aggregation structures as a novel organizational construct in a modern organization. Design/methodology/approach: We use an immersive ethnographic approach to follow the transition to value streams as team aggregation structures in a large organization during the first three years of implementation. We integrate systematic observations with interviews to get insights into the dynamics of change and the most important challenges faced by the organization during this transition. Findings: We integrate systematic observations collected during the organizational change with insights from interviews carried out with managers to provide tentative answers to some key questions related to the implementation of multiteam systems. We reflect on their performance, entitativity, autonomy as well as on the satisfaction of their members. Practical implications: We discuss some of the most important managerial challenges during the transition to value streams as novel organizational constructs and we derive some actionable insights for team and value stream managers leading such change processes. Originality/value: Our study provides a rich account of the first stages of implementing an organizational design that brings together different teams in organizational structures that are focused on the value provided to customers.