Organizing innovation: complementarities between cross-functional teams

James H. Love; Stephen Roper

doi:10.1016/j.technovation.2008.07.008

Organizing innovation: complementarities between cross-functional teams

James H. Love, Stephen Roper

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	192-203
Number of pages	12
Journal	Technovation
Volume	29
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.technovation.2008.07.008
Publication status	Published - Mar 2009

Bibliographical note

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

Keywords

innovation
cross-functional teams
complementarities
UK
Germany

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10.1016/j.technovation.2008.07.008

Organizing innovation
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
Accepted author manuscript, 156 KB

Cite this

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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.",

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Organizing innovation: complementarities between cross-functional teams

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Keywords

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