The Effect of Interpersonal Counterproductive Behavior on the Performance of New Product Development Teams

Abstract

New product development (NPD) teams have been commonly adopted in organizations to optimize NPD process (e.g., Brockman et al. 2010). The increased need for teamwork has received wide attention in current research (Bstieler and Hemmert 2010). One main stream of research is focusing on how cross-functional integration influences NPD success (Troy, Hirunyawipada, and Paswan 2008). Another stream of research addresses the leadership role in promoting NPD performance through better coordination (Sarin and McDermott 2003). Despite the fruitful findings on the positive factors to generate success in NPD teams, little research has explored the dysfunctional aspect of team interactions. Dysfunctional behavior or counterproductive behavior refers to the acts that are intended to undermine the group efforts (e.g., Bowling and Gruys 2010). Our present study aims to fill the research gap by examining how interpersonal counterproductive behavior impacts NPD performance through teamwork. Specifically, we address two aspects of team work: team trust and team learning behavior. Our study suggests that team trust mediates the relationship between interpersonal counterproductive behavior and team learning behavior. Team learning behavior in turn significantly impacts the performance of NPD teams.