The research aims at analyzing the internal communication in a new product development project of Sandvik with expectation to explore possibilities of improvement. Throughout the research, internal communication seems to have a great impact on innovation and project performance. Several critical factors in building effective communication were identified as team size, superordinate goals, centralization of communication, early involvement, physical proximity, and leadership. Meetings were considered as a major and efficient method of communication within the project. Based on these issues, recommendations for improving internal communication within the project were suggested.

The aim of this research is to explore the relationship between culture and climate as well as the significance of an organisation’s climate on cross-functional behaviour, activities and actions (who, what and when) which forms an integral part of strategy implementation and increasing performance. A key component of an organisational development is team work; which facilitates organisational learning, establish common goals and provide support to achieve these goals. Within the Organisation under investigation there has not been any research into the subject of the significance of the climate on cross-functional behaviour and activities, which is impacted by ‘coopetition’ - the simultaneous role of cooperation and competition within organisations. The research by means of qualitative research should provide some insight into the significance of and if climate impact cross-functional behaviour and activities in organisations. The research methodology included a customised survey which was developed to elicit answers to determine the climate and cross-functional behaviour and activities within the Organisation. Interviews were conducted with Operating Unit Executive Directors of the Organisation. The results indicate that the perceived current climate of the Organisation is not positive and that there is still silo-behaviour within the Organisation which is as a result of the culture of the Organisation, a culture which existed prior to Beyond 60 process. The research confirmed the overlapping relationship between culture and climate and that climate indeed impact cross-functional behaviour and activities at the Organisational and Operating Unit level. / Graduate School for Business Leadership / (M.B.A.)

Purpose The purpose of the research work is to investigate the importance of the communication in the cross-functional teams and in what which communicational tools provide better convenience of communication in cross-functional team members. Methodology An empirical study including the data collection from the interviews conducted from the participants working in cross-functional teams. Qualitative approach has been adopted to understand the communicational attributes in the cross-functional teams. For the analysis both deductive and abductive approach has been used. With the help of theoretical framework and empirical data, conclusions drown for better understanding of the concept. Findings The author has divided the search in two main segments, communicational effects on cross-functional team performance and effectiveness of particular communicational tools used by team members and team leaders. Empirical findings shows that without proper communication, cross-functional team are less tend to perform well to achieve set goals as well as face to face communications are more effective than other communicational tools.  Research limitations The research work is limited to Scandinavian countries. Organizational communicational structures are not studied due to time factor. Other limitation of this research work is effect of cultural differences on communication. Implications The research work provides deep understanding of the different communicational effects on cross-functional team performance. The choice of communicational tool and proportional importance for the team members will help managers while selecting the tools of communication with the team members. Originality / value During the literature studies, author determined that there is potential of research for the communicational tools used in cross-functional team communications. The social media is taking over the traditional communicational tools which provide value for findings. / Thesis

The aim of this research is to explore the relationship between culture and climate as well as the significance of an organisation’s climate on cross-functional behaviour, activities and actions (who, what and when) which forms an integral part of strategy implementation and increasing performance. A key component of an organisational development is team work; which facilitates organisational learning, establish common goals and provide support to achieve these goals. Within the Organisation under investigation there has not been any research into the subject of the significance of the climate on cross-functional behaviour and activities, which is impacted by ‘coopetition’ - the simultaneous role of cooperation and competition within organisations. The research by means of qualitative research should provide some insight into the significance of and if climate impact cross-functional behaviour and activities in organisations. The research methodology included a customised survey which was developed to elicit answers to determine the climate and cross-functional behaviour and activities within the Organisation. Interviews were conducted with Operating Unit Executive Directors of the Organisation. The results indicate that the perceived current climate of the Organisation is not positive and that there is still silo-behaviour within the Organisation which is as a result of the culture of the Organisation, a culture which existed prior to Beyond 60 process. The research confirmed the overlapping relationship between culture and climate and that climate indeed impact cross-functional behaviour and activities at the Organisational and Operating Unit level. / Graduate School for Business Leadership / (M.B.A.)

<p>The aim of this study is to find out if teambuilding is a good tool to mobilize a project group to increase cooperation and work performance in the team. The master report is a descriptive study of how I planned, prepared and launched a teambuilding program for a project group in a South-Swedish municipality. The team members were hasty put together to launch a public polyclinic treatment program for drug addicts. The project team had less than one year to show good result of its work to get the project granted permanent founding from the municipality. But good cooperation among team members does not occur by itself. After a short time the project manager felt that the project group did not function like it should. I then started my work collected data from the group through interviews, meetings, observations, and questionnaires. My theoretical framework is among others the FIRO-theory, Team Role Inventory and theory X and Y. To be able to measure the effectiveness of the teambuilding I took the use of an individually written questionnaire to measure the situation in the team at one of my early meetings with the team and then again after the teambuilding. The result of my studies did not give a clear answer to the question; if team building is a good tool for mobilizing a project group to increased cooperation and work performance. The survey response on the follow up questionnaire after the teambuilding had too many non-response questions. That makes this study reliability weakened. On the other hand I will state that the development of the group through the teambuilding have shown some positive effects when it comes to cooperation between team members and between team members and team leader. On the other side the collected data also show that some of the project group’s positive advantages were weaken after the teambuilding. I have therefore not been able to verify my hypotheses that team building is a good tool to mobilize a project group to increase cooperation and work performance.</p>

The aim of this study is to find out if teambuilding is a good tool to mobilize a project group to increase cooperation and work performance in the team. The master report is a descriptive study of how I planned, prepared and launched a teambuilding program for a project group in a South-Swedish municipality. The team members were hasty put together to launch a public polyclinic treatment program for drug addicts. The project team had less than one year to show good result of its work to get the project granted permanent founding from the municipality. But good cooperation among team members does not occur by itself. After a short time the project manager felt that the project group did not function like it should. I then started my work collected data from the group through interviews, meetings, observations, and questionnaires. My theoretical framework is among others the FIRO-theory, Team Role Inventory and theory X and Y. To be able to measure the effectiveness of the teambuilding I took the use of an individually written questionnaire to measure the situation in the team at one of my early meetings with the team and then again after the teambuilding. The result of my studies did not give a clear answer to the question; if team building is a good tool for mobilizing a project group to increased cooperation and work performance. The survey response on the follow up questionnaire after the teambuilding had too many non-response questions. That makes this study reliability weakened. On the other hand I will state that the development of the group through the teambuilding have shown some positive effects when it comes to cooperation between team members and between team members and team leader. On the other side the collected data also show that some of the project group’s positive advantages were weaken after the teambuilding. I have therefore not been able to verify my hypotheses that team building is a good tool to mobilize a project group to increase cooperation and work performance.

In these years, corporations have valued the cooperation among departments in their organizations. Team members from cross-functional teams composed of different functional areas have frequent communication due to the need for cooperation and support by each other. A well-performed team relies on effective communication and such interactive behavior between team members. These team members come from different departments or functions, which results in the variations in team members¡¦ standpoint and ways of doing things, but these make the teams more flexible and diversified. On the other hand, each department¡¦s sectionalism and patterns of behavior by usual practices cause the cross-functional teams¡¦ barrier of communication. Thus, this study applies the concept about the classification of teams raised by Larson & Frank (1989), and to study the issue of teamwork effectiveness of cross-functional teams through the qualitative interview method, and further to bring up conclusion and suggestion towards cross-functional teamwork. This study considers the inter-dependence between cross-functional team members, need for innovation of team¡¦s task, and organizational support as three dimensions to generalize the managerial implications in the respect of the performance of teamwork. In sum, under general conditions, ¡§the autonomy of teamwork¡¨ and ¡§the clarity of team¡¦s task¡¨ both could be coordinated to improve the performance of teamwork, however , ¡§the trust among team members¡¨ is both a necessary factor and basis to facilitate the communication and coordination in cross-functional teams and on which teams could work smoothly. Corporate culture and team leader would also influence communication among team members, therefore organization should build a free, open, and respectful communication environment. In addition, organization should empower team members with enough authority which helps team members exert their influence while communicating with other department. Besides, as a vital role of guiding, facilitating, and coordinating cross-department cooperation, the team leader boosts team¡¦s morale, provides decision-making support, and motivate team members to achieve team¡¦s goal. If necessary, team leaders should make good use of their ability of coordination to raise team members¡¦ coherence to their team, and further to help team members to reach an agreement.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1997. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 151-164). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1997. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 151-164). Also available on the Internet.

ix, 99 p. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / Design briefs outline the business objectives, corresponding design strategies and target markets for a product development project. Research has demonstrated that a variety of attributes influence consumer impressions of a product, less attention has been given to the within-firm mechanisms that determine the optimal mix of attributes which to embed in an offering. The first essay of this dissertation examines the role of design briefs as knowledge-based assets that function as artifacts of this process within new product development (NPD). In a second essay, this dissertation examines design briefs as knowledge-based artifacts of cross-functional collaboration during NPD. NPD is often characterized as the process by which firms transform knowledge embedded in cross-functional teams into new products. However functional areas often differ in their evaluations of information and knowledge needed to successfully complete an NPD project. Based on an expert rating and survey questionnaire procedure, results provide a framework of eight factors of cross-functional knowledge present in design briefs and empirically describes differences in evaluation within each factor across functional area. / Committee in charge: Dennis Howard, Chairperson, Marketing; Lynn Kahle, Member, Marketing; Joan Giese, Member, Marketing; Keven Malkewitz, Member, Not from U of O; Gary Klug, Outside Member, Human Physiology