Title: The role of cross-functional teams on the alignment between technology innovation effectiveness and operational effectiveness

Authors: Ricardo Santa, Phil Bretherton, Mario Ferrer, Claudine Soosay, Paul Hyland

Addresses: School of Law and Business, Charles Darwin University, Ellengowan drive 0909, Casuarina Campus, Darwin, NT, Australia. ' School of Law and Business, Charles Darwin University, Ellengowan drive 0909, Casuarina Campus, Darwin, NT, Australia. ' CQUniversity, Building 19, Bruce Highway, North Rockhampton, QLD 4702, Australia. ' University of South Australia, City West Campus, GPO Box 2471, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia. ' The Queensland University of Technology, 2 George St Brisbane 4001, Australia

Abstract: Organisations are increasingly investing in complex technological innovations, such as enterprise information systems, with the aim of improving the operation of the business, and in this way gaining competitive advantage. However, the implementation of technological innovations tends to have an excessive focus on either technology innovation effectiveness, or the resulting operational effectiveness. Focusing on either one of them is detrimental to long-term performance. Cross-functional teams have been used by many organisations as a way of involving expertise from different functional areas in the implementation of technologies. The role of boundary spanning actors is discussed as they bring a common language to the cross-functional teams. Multiple regression analysis has been used to identify the structural relationships and provide an explanation for the influence of cross-functional teams, technology innovation effectiveness and operational effectiveness in the continuous improvement of operational performance. The findings indicate that cross functional teams have an indirect influence on continuous improvement of operational performance through the alignment between technology innovation effectiveness and operational effectiveness.

Keywords: cross functional teams; technological innovation; innovation effectiveness; operational effectiveness; information systems alignment; continuous improvement; boundary spanning; teamwork; technology management; operational performance.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.2011.041683

International Journal of Technology Management, 2011 Vol.55 No.1/2, pp.122 - 137

Published online: 06 Apr 2013 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article