I had also mentioned the case of Ricardo Semler:

Ricardo Semler (born 1959 in São Paulo) is the CEO and majority owner of Semco SA, a Brazilian company best known for its radical form of industrial democracy and corporate re-engineering. Under his ownership, revenue has grown from $4 million US in 1982 to $212 million in 2003 and his innovative business management policies have attracted widespread interest around the world. [...] Semler went to work for his father's company, originally called Semler & Company, then a shipbuilding supplier in São Paulo. Semler clashed with his father, Antonio Semler, who supported a traditional autocratic style of management while the younger Semler favoured a decentralised, participatory style. [...] After dramatic restrictions on liquidity instituted by Brazilian president Fernando Collor de Mello to combat hyperinflation in 1990, Brazil's economy went into a severe downturn, forcing many companies to declare bankruptcy. Workers at SEMCO agreed to wage cuts, providing their share of profits was increased to 39%, management salaries were cut by 40% and employees were given the right to approve every item of expenditure.

Performing multiple roles during the crisis gave workers greater knowledge of the operations and more suggestions on how to improve the business. Reforms implemented during that time led to 65% reduction in inventories, a marked reduction in product delivery times and a product defects rate that fell to less than 1%.