Cross-functional New Product Development Teams Research Articles

Cutting through the Tension and Perception Barriers in Cross-Functional NPD Teams

Although cross-functional new product development (NPD) teams are central to innovation processes in companies, they are often burdened with tensions between colleagues from disparate functions. These tensions can slow down projects, affect the integrity of the team and eventually reduce the likelihood of a positive innovation outcome. Through interviews with 33 cross-functional NPD team members across five different roles (design, engineering, marketing, manufacturing, and project management) within consumer goods/electronics companies in four global innovation hubs (Silicon Valley, New York, Greater Boston area and London), this paper explores the characteristics, interactions and, significantly, the sources of tensions. We focus on professional identities being a precursor to tension and teams. These identities lead to deep divides connected to the strength of the team member’s allegiance to their functional perspective as well as their alignment to team and organizational identities. The findings highlight the interactions of two categories of team members, each with distinctively different professional identities, behaviour, and influences on tensions within teams: (1) those who are strongly aligned with a single functional domain and (2) those that connect across multiple knowledge domains. Highlighting root causes for functional perceptions of colleagues, the paper identifies potential avenues for improving communication and collaboration in cross-functional NPD teams to address ingrained sources of tension.

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While some degree of freedom and flexibility is an essential ingredient to productive cross-functional NPD teams, upper-managers are faced with the challenge of instituting effective control mechanisms which head projects in the right strategic direction, monitor progress toward organizational and project goals, and allow for adjustments in the project if necessary. But too much or the wrong type of control may constrain the team’s creativity, impede their progress, and injure their ultimate performance. Therefore, this study examines formal and interactive control mechanisms available to upper-managers in controlling new product development (NPD) projects, and the relationship between these mechanisms and NPD project performance.Formal output and process controls are examined which consist of the setting and monitoring of outcomes, such as goals, schedule and budgets, and of processes and procedures, respectively. This study also looks at how the effectiveness of these control mechanisms may be contingent upon the degree of innovativeness in the project and the degree to which the project is part of a broad product program. In addition, the use of formal rewards for achieving team performance as opposed to rewards for individual achievement is investigated. Lastly, interactive controls are examined which consist of upper-managers interacting directly with project members in the development of strategy and operational goals and procedures prior to the start of the project, and upper-managers intervening in project decision-making.Questionnaire data are collected on 95 projects across a variety of industries. The findings suggest that while NPD projects teams need some level of strategic direction concerning the objectives to be accomplished and the procedures to be followed, upper-level managers can exert too much control. In particular, the findings showed a negative association between the use of upper manager-imposed process controls and project performance. The findings also indicated that the degree to which upper-managers intervened in project-level decisions during the project was negatively related to project performance. However, the results showed support for the notion that early and interactive decision-making on control mechanisms is important for effective projects. In particular, early team member and upper-management involvement in the setting of operational controls, such as goals and procedures for monitoring and evaluating the project, was positively associated with project performance.This study provides additional insight into our understanding of upper-management support in new product development. The study suggests that upper-managers can over control with the wrong type of controls, and suggests effective ways of implementing participative and interactive control mechanisms.

Upper management control of new product development projects and project performance

While some degree of freedom and flexibility is an essential ingredient to productive cross-functional NPD teams, upper-managers are faced with the challenge of instituting effective control mechanisms which head projects in the right strategic direction, monitor progress toward organizational and project goals, and allow for adjustments in the project if necessary. But too much or the wrong type of control may constrain the team’s creativity, impede their progress, and injure their ultimate performance. Therefore, this study examines formal and interactive control mechanisms available to upper-managers in controlling new product development (NPD) projects, and the relationship between these mechanisms and NPD project performance. Formal output and process controls are examined which consist of the setting and monitoring of outcomes, such as goals, schedule and budgets, and of processes and procedures, respectively. This study also looks at how the effectiveness of these control mechanisms may be contingent upon the degree of innovativeness in the project and the degree to which the project is part of a broad product program. In addition, the use of formal rewards for achieving team performance as opposed to rewards for individual achievement is investigated. Lastly, interactive controls are examined which consist of upper-managers interacting directly with project members in the development of strategy and operational goals and procedures prior to the start of the project, and upper-managers intervening in project decision-making. Questionnaire data are collected on 95 projects across a variety of industries. The findings suggest that while NPD projects teams need some level of strategic direction concerning the objectives to be accomplished and the procedures to be followed, upper-level managers can exert too much control. In particular, the findings showed a negative association between the use of upper manager-imposed process controls and project performance. The findings also indicated that the degree to which upper-managers intervened in project-level decisions during the project was negatively related to project performance. However, the results showed support for the notion that early and interactive decision-making on control mechanisms is important for effective projects. In particular, early team member and upper-management involvement in the setting of operational controls, such as goals and procedures for monitoring and evaluating the project, was positively associated with project performance. This study provides additional insight into our understanding of upper-management support in new product development. The study suggests that upper-managers can over control with the wrong type of controls, and suggests effective ways of implementing participative and interactive control mechanisms.