Managing the fuzzy front-end in multicultural teams

The purpose of this paper is to identify coordination mechanisms for multicultural teams at the fuzzy front-end (FFE) of discontinuous product innovations to maintain their creative potential by limiting the negative effects of cultural differences of individual nations.

Based on a case study, the international teamwork at the FFE was analyzed at Bürkert, a German medium-sized firm active in the industrial sector.

In correlation with the academic literature, the findings suggest that a strong organizational culture oriented toward innovation delivers a common framework for the FFE. Additionally, the case company succeeded in limiting the negative effects of individual nations’ cultures through common professional cultures.

Data were collected from a single case study what limits its generalizability. Moreover, national culture was considered to be overlapping with political boundaries without taking regional differences into account. Future research should focus to overcome these limitations so as to better capture international challenges at this fuzzy phase of the innovation process.

Companies should focus on their corporate culture and use the concept of professional cultures to facilitate not only the international collaboration, but also the communication on a national level between the functional departments at the FFE.

The paper contributes to a better understanding of the FFE in a multicultural innovation team to sustain its innovative potential over time. It proposes a first parsimonious framework to coordinate cultural differences at the FFE.