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Cross-functional teams

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lightbulbAbout this topic
Cross-functional teams are groups composed of members from different functional areas within an organization, collaborating to achieve a common goal. These teams leverage diverse expertise and perspectives to enhance problem-solving, innovation, and project execution, fostering improved communication and coordination across departmental boundaries.
lightbulbAbout this topic
Cross-functional teams are groups composed of members from different functional areas within an organization, collaborating to achieve a common goal. These teams leverage diverse expertise and perspectives to enhance problem-solving, innovation, and project execution, fostering improved communication and coordination across departmental boundaries.

Key research themes

1. How does organizational and task context moderate the effectiveness of cross-functional teams?

This research area investigates under which organizational conditions and task structures cross-functional teams (CFTs) deliver superior performance versus when their functional diversity induces conflict and reduces effectiveness. Understanding these contextual moderators is critical because CFTs are frequently used with the expectation of enhanced innovation and problem-solving, yet empirical findings on their outcomes are mixed. Research emphasizes the role of organizational design, innovation unit structure, connectedness at firm-level, and the nature of tasks (execution vs. creative) in shaping whether functional diversity leads to conflict or collaboration and ultimately improves performance.

Key finding: Blindenbach-Driessen demonstrates that the positive impact of cross-functional teams on innovation project performance is contingent upon firm-level organizational context. Specifically, such teams enhance outcomes mainly in... Read more
Key finding: The authors find that task structure (situational strength) and task type (execute vs. generate) moderate the effect of cultural diversity on team performance. High task specificity benefits culturally diverse teams in... Read more
Key finding: van Dijk and colleagues establish that functional diversity can increase role conflict and impair team performance in healthcare settings, but the presence of appropriate team processes—specifically interpersonal conflict... Read more

2. What team processes and dynamics facilitate knowledge integration and effective collaboration in cross-functional or global virtual teams?

This theme focuses on how team-level interaction processes—including communication, trust development, shared mental models, and collaboration engineering—enable diverse teams to integrate knowledge and perform effectively despite functional, cultural, or geographic differences. Cross-functional and virtual teams face disruption risks such as misaligned roles, low trust, and ineffective coordination. Research examines mechanisms that foster collective cognition and smooth information flow to convert diversity into innovation and high performance.

Key finding: This Q-methodology study reveals three distinct viewpoints among CFT members regarding knowledge integration: (1) an optimistic perspective emphasizing benefits of diversity in information and knowledge; (2) a skeptical... Read more
Key finding: The chapter identifies that managing global virtual teams requires structured collaboration processes to mitigate challenges arising from time, location, and cultural barriers. It advocates for adopting Collaboration... Read more
Key finding: This qualitative study portrays team dynamics as ongoing processes of 'teaming in' and 'teaming out,' emphasizing that sustainable team effectiveness depends on continuous collective sensemaking and active engagement not only... Read more
Key finding: D’Innocenzo et al. use conditional process modeling to demonstrate that collective team orientation increases performance indirectly through team trust, but this relationship is moderated by consensus, diversity... Read more
Key finding: This conceptual and empirical study presents a model linking organizational context, team composition, leadership, and project task characteristics to processes of knowledge sharing, learning, and problem-solving in... Read more

3. How do team diversity dimensions (functional, cultural) influence intra-team conflict and trust, and what are their implications for team performance?

This research area explores the dual-edged nature of diversity in teams, focusing on how different diversity attributes (functional, cultural, surface-level, deep-level) relate to types of conflict (task, relationship, role), the development of intra-team trust, and eventual performance outcomes. It highlights the mechanisms through which diversity can foster innovation versus cause social categorization and faultlines that reduce cooperation, emphasizing the moderating roles of trust and team processes in mitigating conflict and enabling team success.

Key finding: Using data from 61 healthcare teams in Pakistan, this study empirically finds that both surface-level and deep-level diversity positively correlate with task conflict. However, higher trust among team members weakens the... Read more
Key finding: The authors reveal that trust mediates the complex relationship between collective team orientation and performance while being negatively affected by high diversity and faultlines. The moderated mediation analysis shows that... Read more
Key finding: This work integrates situational strength and task type theories to explain why cultural diversity sometimes reduces performance due to social categorization and sometimes enhances it through greater information processing.... Read more

All papers in Cross-functional teams

Knowledge transfer is essential for sustaining competitiveness and innovation in today's dynamic environments. This paper introduces the Fission Model for Knowledge Transfer, a governance-based framework inspired by the nuclear fission... more
In the era of open and distributed innovation, Information Technology (IT) must be leveraged by organizations to reach, record and review ideas from internal (eg. employees) and external sources (eg. business partners). IT can support and... more
The article considers an integrated approach to the formation of cross-functional managerial competence of an orientalist through experimental training in the discipline “Basic Oriental language (Chinese)”. The purpose of the research is... more
The emerging predominance of group learning in the business world represents a significant trend of group work assignments in the context of formal education. Group learning effectiveness and satisfaction has been analyzed on the basis of... more
In the era of open and distributed innovation, Information Technology (IT) must be leveraged by organizations to reach, record and review ideas from internal (eg. employees) and external sources (eg. business partners). IT can support and... more
In the information systems (IS) literature, there is a gap in understanding the role of middle managers (MMs) in the digital transformation in organizations. IS research has focused on understanding top management and user roles in... more
Agile methodologies play a pivotal role in enhancing flexibility, responsiveness, and efficiency within IT and information systems (IS) management. This study examines the evolving landscape of agile practices, providing a comprehensive... more
Public service organizations, including museums and other cultural institutions, are facing unprecedented challenges in the work they do while at the same time navigating changing expectations about how work gets done. The success of... more
Purpose: The requirements of various participants of a project may be conflicting with the strategy of the project's parent organization and, consequently, the project may form its individual strategy independently to better align with... more
The shift towards agile organizational design has become increasingly prominent in the digital age, as businesses seek to enhance flexibility, innovation, and adaptability. This study examines the influence of agile structures on employee... more
In completing this research I am indebted and deeply grateful and express my sincere gratitude to the following people who stood by me to complete my studies and thesis-My wife, Arina for her encouragement, patience and for the personal... more
The modern challenges of business success make the use of interdisciplinary cross-functional teamwork necessary to tackle social and economic issues alike. The study examines the role of knowledge hiding in within-team coopetition, taking... more
The modern challenges of business success make the use of interdisciplinary cross-functional teamwork necessary to tackle social and economic issues alike. The study examines the role of knowledge hiding in within-team coopetition, taking... more
The study examines the behaviour of two characteristic traits on knowledge retention, mediated using modern smartphone usage in the corporate environment of cross-functional teams. For the investigation, a selfmade model was applied that... more
This study aims to extend the product portfolio management (PPM) practices to cover all lifecycle phases and product portfolio layers by the means of comprehensively analysing the current PPM literature and the relevant practices of ten... more
In a Word Virtual team management is the ability to organize and coordinate with effect, a group whose members are not in the same location or time zone, and may not even work for the organization. The predictor of success is-as... more
In a growing number of industries, firms' survival and competitiveness depend on how well they can leverage on past experience, reusing and recombining knowledge to innovate their products and processes. This entails managing the sharing... more
En un mercado competitivo, la eficiencia, la agilidad y la capacidad de adaptación serán claves para el éxito. Este artículo presentará la implementación de equipos cross-funcionales con Scrum en Impulsora Sahuayo, Sucursal Chihuahua,... more
This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MRes
This study aims to extend the product portfolio management (PPM) practices to cover all lifecycle phases and product portfolio layers by the means of comprehensively analysing the current PPM literature and the relevant practices of ten... more
During the recent decades, management research has paid a lot of attention to the importance of middle managersÕ involvement and middle managersÕ knowledge in the running of innovative organizations. This study is in line with a growing... more
The sub-process of selecting team members, as in people not organizations, is not applied. It is however a fact that interconnections and boundaries are formed between individuals within a team and teams as a whole within the project and... more
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CROSS-FUNCTIONAL, ENTERPRISE, AND infrastructure systems integrate information across an organization for use by multiple stakeholders. 14,22 Development or configuration of these large, multimillion-dollar projects is normally overseen... more
The present study is a qualitative analysis of the tensions that occur in cross-functional teams (CFTs) and the way in which they can affect the teams' accomplishments. The research is focused on a single case, COHTTEC 2005, a program... more
In the information systems (IS) literature, there is a gap in understanding the role of middle managers (MMs) in the digital transformation in organizations. IS research has focused on understanding top management and user roles in... more
Test your knowledge and explore the nature of 15 different leadership styles.
In this paper we provide a foundation for a new generation of services and tools. We define new ways of capturing, sharing and reusing information and intelligence provided by single users and communities, as well as organizations by... more
article-type="back-matter" dtd-version="1.1d1" xml:lang="en"><front id="meta-hdr"><journal-meta><journal-id journal-id-type="publisher">CCIJ</journal-id><journal-id... more
Though there has been plenty of research into new product success factors, only a few studies have tried to analyse whether these factors are important in different settings. In this study, we propose and test a model that links physical... more
Purpose The implementation of project-based learning (PBL) activities in the curricula of engineering students has become a consolidated method to improve their skills. The purpose of this paper is to share the experience acquired by the... more
Demand-supply alignment as a means for value creation in the marketplace is not a new concept either in the marketing or supply chain management literature. Recent developments in demand chain management (DCM) revamp this issue, which is... more
Advancements in CMOS technologies have led to an era of Internet Of Things (IOT), where the devices have the ability to communicate with each other apart from their computational power. As more and more sensitive data is processed by... more
Every merger and acquisition deal presents a different goal and a different mix of critical issues to manage. Making, consummating, and integrating a deal puts pressure on chief executives to play multiple leadership roles and switch... more
This paper is a comprehensive presentation of a framework for the modeling, the simulation and the analysis of power relationships in social organizations, and more generally in systems of organized action. This framework relies on, and... more
Die ZBW räumt Ihnen als Nutzerin/Nutzer das unentgeltliche, räumlich unbeschränkte und zeitlich auf die Dauer des Schutzrechts beschränkte einfache Recht ein, das ausgewählte Werk im Rahmen der unter
Problem statement: Although, literature proves the importance of the technology role in the effectiveness of virtual research and development (R&D) teams for new product development. However, the factors that make technology construct in... more
The present study discusses the development of strategic renewal through the role of middle managers who pay proper attention to changes in their respective business environments. The following three approaches are used in this study:... more
The present study discusses the development of strategic renewal through the role of middle managers who pay proper attention to changes in their respective business environments. The following three approaches are used in this study:... more
Purpose Peer support is increasingly being introduced into mainstream mental health services internationally. The distinctiveness of peer support, compared to other mental health support, has been linked to values underpinning peer... more
Factors that influence knowledge sharing among knowledge workers in organizations can seriously affect performance and productivity because poor understanding of these factors can de-motivate knowledge sharing culture and attitude in the... more
Social Media intelligence allow the knowledge of competitor&#39;s moves and the analysis of trends from the communications exchanged in the networks of individual consumers, making it easy for companies to develop solutions according to... more
The manufacturing industry is going through a transition from developing of products to the provision of product-service systems (PSS). Earlier research has identified different types of PSS offers in this product-service transition, from... more
The second part of this article reports our query into the essential characteristics of effective engineering networks in the current business environments through case studies focusing on engineering design, manufacturing engineering,... more
Today, the manufacturing industry is under increasing pressure to rapidly develop and manufacture innovative designs in much shorter timeframes in order to keep up with growing customer demands and quickly gain new business. Implementing... more
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