Organizing innovation: complementarities between cross-functional teams

Abstract

Cross-functional teams play a potentially important part in the innovation process enabling knowledge sharing, the development of trust and overcoming spatial and organizational barriers. Using a supermodularity approach, we focus on potential complementarities which may arise when cross-functional teams are used in different elements of the innovation process in UK and German manufacturing plants. Using optimal combinations of cross-functional teams in the innovation process increases innovation success in the UK by 29.5 per cent compared to 9.5 per cent in Germany. Patterns of complementarity are complex, however, but are more uniform in the UK than in Germany. The most uniform complementarities are between product design and development and production engineering, with little synergy evident between the more technical phases of the innovation process and the development of marketing strategy. In strategic terms, our results suggest the value of using cross-functional teams for the more technical elements of the innovation process but that the development of marketing strategy should remain the domain of specialists.

Publication DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.technovation.2008.07.008
Divisions: College of Business and Social Sciences > Aston Business School > Economics, Finance & Entrepreneurship
College of Business and Social Sciences > Aston Business School
Additional Information: NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Technovation. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Love, JH & Roper, S, 'Organizing innovation: complementarities between cross-functional teams' Technovation, vol. 29, no. 3 (2009) DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.technovation.2008.07.008
Uncontrolled Keywords: innovation,cross-functional teams,complementarities,UK,Germany,Management of Technology and Innovation,General Engineering
Publication ISSN: 1879-2383
Last Modified: 10 Oct 2024 07:11
Date Deposited: 27 Oct 2009 11:48
Full Text Link:
Related URLs: http://www.scop ... tnerID=8YFLogxK (Scopus URL)
PURE Output Type: Article
Published Date: 2009-03
Authors: Love, James H.
Roper, Stephen

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