Cross-functionality and innovation in new product development teams: A dilemmatic structure and its consequences for the management of diversity

Abstract

The ubiquitous hope among managers of new product development (NPD) teams that a cross-functional team composition may be a royal road to enhancing team innovations appears to be an illusion. Empirical analyses show positive as well as negative or nonsignificant relationships between crossfunctionality and team innovations. In this article, we integrate the extant literature and develop a process model that explains the contradictory empirical findings. We propose that introducing specific mediators and moderators enables improved predictions of the effects of cross-functionality on team innovations. In developing our model, which is primarily based on a conflict-theoretical perspective, we address theories of social categorization, identity and self verification, information/decision making, group problem solving, and innovativeness, respectively. Our process model explicates how (i.e., via what mediators) and when (i.e., in the presence of what moderators) cross-functionality enhances or impedes synergistic communication among team members, which in turn fosters team innovations. On the basis of this new model we discuss strategies for managing cross-functionality in NPD teams.

From Theory To Practice: Recommending Supportive Diversity Practices

“…Their primary mechanism is called -synergistic communication‖, which mediates the relationship between functional/informational diversity and team innovation. Synergistic communication is defined as the extent to which members' divergent positions are specified and recombined to generate new and useful solutions (Gebert, Boerner, & Kearney, 2006). Their model suggests that the innovativeness of a new product development team is a function of synergistic communication, which is influenced by the types of conflicts that arise in that cross-functional team.…”

Team Performance in Software Development: Research Results versus Agile Principles

“…Team learning is an "ongoing process of reflection and action, characterized by asking questions, seeking feedback, experimenting, reflecting on results, and discussing errors or unexpected outcomes of actions" [11]. By monitoring and reflecting upon past events the team becomes reflexive and thereby able to adjust and adapt the team's objectives, strategies and processes to current or anticipated circumstances [12,13]. Team learning results in "a relatively permanent change in the team's collective level of knowledge and skill produced by the shared experience of team members" [14].…”

The Impact of Globalization on Cross-Cultural Communication

“…Management must take steps to ensure that cross-functionality does not create conflict and hinder communication within the team [20]. To effectively generate innovation the level of expertise and individual skill set of each team member must be ascertained.…”

“…Organizational cross-functionality or connectivity is essential to innovation because it brings together a diverse group of people from different functional backgrounds [20]. Management must take steps to ensure that cross-functionality does not create conflict and hinder communication within the team [20].…”