TY - JOUR AB - Mechanisms for increasing participation of employees in problem‐solving activities such as continuous improvement (CI) programmes often include the use of problem‐solving teams. Teams can support problem solving by emphasizing accountability for the production process within the work unit, thereby increasing the sense of responsibility for (local) problems. However, it is unclear how effort within these organisational forms should be rewarded. This article describes the use of problem‐solving teams within a UK automotive component company, and examines the implications for human resource policy, in particular for the reward and recognition systems. The article outlines the outcomes that ensued when two reward systems existed, one for team‐based activities and another for individual suggestions. The contradictions of the two systems are considered in the context of the organisation’s historical individualistic approach to reward systems. VL - 31 IS - 3 SN - 0048-3486 DO - 10.1108/00483480210422732 UR - https://doi.org/10.1108/00483480210422732 AU - Kerrin Máire AU - Oliver Nick PY - 2002 Y1 - 2002/01/01 TI - Collective and individual improvement activities: the role of reward systems T2 - Personnel Review PB - MCB UP Ltd SP - 320 EP - 337 Y2 - 2024/03/28 ER -