Team Coordination, Communication and Knowledge Sharing in SMEs and Large Organisations

Abstract

Knowledge has become more and more the prime resource for companies due to innovative pressure and the increasing importance of knowledge work. To maximize the innovative potential, companies are challenged to share and integrate the knowledge of their employees in project and product development teams. Knowledge sharing thus becomes essential for the success of product development and business processes. However, research has revealed that collaboration and knowledge sharing in organisations are often problematic. In this paper we investigated the impact of organisational size and team structure on team coordination, communication and knowledge sharing in German R&D departments, as well as department heads' satisfaction with team performance. Results show that communication, coordination and knowledge sharing problems correlate with the size of the organisation and the structure of teams. Department heads in small and medium size enterprises with more dynamic structures indicate fewer collaboration problems in their product development teams and higher satisfaction with team performance compared to department heads in large enterprises. These findings emphasize the influence of structural factors on knowledge sharing processes and link knowledge sharing with outcome factors such as supervisors' satisfaction with team performance.