Huth Organizing Cross-Functional New Product Development Projects
1. Auflage 2008
ISBN: 978-3-8349-9642-8
Verlag: Betriebswirtschaftlicher Verlag Gabler
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark
The Phase-Specific Effects of Organizational Antecedents
E-Book, Englisch, 185 Seiten, Web PDF
Reihe: Business and Management (R0)
ISBN: 978-3-8349-9642-8
Verlag: Betriebswirtschaftlicher Verlag Gabler
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark
On the basis of a survey conducted with 133 project managers, Tobias Huth presents an empirical analysis of the organizational success drivers of new cross-functional product development projects. The investigated antecedents are distinguished by organic and mechanistic designs as well as boundary spanning activities. New territory is entered by applying a phase-specific perspective. It is shown that certain antecedents (e.g. participative decision-making, top management support) should be permanently employed, while others (e.g. steering committees, central budgets) should be managed dynamically. Teams are advised to adopt a dynamic blend of flexibility and discipline while constantly interacting with external sources inside the organization.
Zielgruppe
Research
Weitere Infos & Material
Cross-Functional Teams in New Product Development.- Theoretical Framework for the Phase-specific Effects of Organizational Antecedents in Cross-Functional New Product Development.- Research Methodology and Results.- Discussion.- References.
2 Cross-Functional Teams in New Product Development (p. 7)
2.1 Emergence of the Concept and Related Challenges
2.1.1 Theoretical Background for the Need to Integrate Functions
The scientific analysis of the cooperation between organizational subsystems is rooted in Lawrence &, Lorsch’s (1967, p. 3), theory of integration and differentiation. According to this theory, organizations are effective when they build specialized functional units and integrate them. By establishing specialized functions, the organization adapts to the uncertainties of specific sub-environments, e.g. the R&,D department adapts to the scientific/ technological environment. It focuses on resolving problems related to newly emerging and competitive technologies.
The marketing department adapts to the market environment and deals with uncertainties concerning market demand, preferences and competition (Lawrence &, Lorsch 1967, pp. 8-9, Olson et al. 2001, p. 260, Souder &, Moenaert 1992, p. 490). Such specialization enables the firm to segment uncertainty. This process is called "differentiation". At the same time, differentiation bears the danger of isolation and it ignores the interdependencies between functions in terms of resources, information and tasks (McCann &, Galbraith 1981, p. 63). Accordingly, there is need to integrate these differentiated subsystems. Lawrence &, Lorsch (1967, p. 4) define integration as "The process of achieving unity of effort among the various subsystems in the accomplishment of the organization’s task".
The need for integration across functions can also be theoretically established from a resource dependency perspective (Pfeffer 1982, Pfeffer &, Salancik 1978). This view has been widely recognized to explain interactions between functional units and organizations (Gupta et al. 1986, Ruekert &, Walker 1987, Stock 2006). It assumes that when employees have less relevant experience to draw on when developing innovative new products, they depend more on other functional competencies, information and resources in order to arrive at a creative, feasible, and successful solution.
Thus, the lack of self-sufficiency creates potential functional dependencies on the parties from which critical inputs are obtained (Stock 2006). Hence, resourcedependency theory provides an additional theoretical explanation as to why cross-functional diversity may increase new product development performance.
2.1.2 From Functional Lines to Cross-functional Teams
Cross-functional project teams have not always been the organizational approach of choice when developing new products (Larson &, Gobeli 1988), and not all companies use crossfunctional teams for new product development (Huizenga 2004, p. 134). A survey by McDonough (2000, p. 229) reveals that 97% of the companies in the USA have used CFTs, and that 33% use them 100% of the time. Griffin (1997, p. 431) demonstrates that over 84% of the more innovative projects are using CFTs, and 40-50% of the surveyed companies use CFTs for less-innovative projects. However, the identified best practice companies report a more extensive use of CFTs for less-innovative projects (50-60%).
