Product development and learning in project teams: the challenges are the benefits

Citation

(2009), "Product development and learning in project teams: the challenges are the benefits", Development and Learning in Organizations, Vol. 23 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/dlo.2009.08123ead.004

Product development and learning in project teams: the challenges are the benefits

Article Type: Abstracts From: Development and Learning in Organizations, Volume 23, Issue 5

Edmondson A.C., Nembhard I.M. The Journal of Product Innovation Management (USA), March 2009, Vol. 26 No. 2, Start page: 123, No of pages: 16

Purpose – Studies the multiple forces promoting the use of teams in new product development (NPD). Design/methodology/approach – A review of the literature of team working and team learning in NPD, in terms of organizational behavior and innovation is presented to provide the background to the study of the organizational benefits of NPD teams. Pays particular attention to the challenges to team working in NPD and the five team attributes that can hinder the effective working of the teams. Findings – The five potentially hindering team attributes comprise: project complexity; cross-functionality and the difficulties involved in communicating across functions; the temporary nature of some team memberships; fluid team boundaries; and embeddedness in organizational structures that can inhibit team working. Concludes that training can help to overcome some of these difficulties, where such training could include strategies involving: the development of project management skills; the taking of a broad perspective; the acquisition of teaming skills; the use of expanded social networks; and boundary-spanning skills. Concludes with a discussion of future research challenges. Originality/value – Builds on the extensive NPD research to add weight to the five team-level benefits proposed in this work. Article type: Research paper ISSN: 0737-6782 Reference: 38AH747

Keywords: Innovation, Organizational behavior, Product development, Product innovation, Project management, Project teams