Cross-functional teams as an instrument for the development of company’s knowledge potential

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to examine the process of concurrent engineering in cross-functional teams and their role in the formation of knowledge potential of a company. Concurrent engineering in cross-functional teams is presented as an alternative to the traditional approach to the development of innovative products. In this study, organizational, activity and functional approaches were used, as well as the methods of analysis, deduction and generalization. The authors analyze the essence and features of concurrent engineering in the context of cross-functional teams. The necessity of considering cross-functional teams from the perspective of the community determining identity, common interests in a team, its relative integrity is established. The research has shown the importance of cross-functional teams in the development and formation of company’s knowledge potential. The article discusses various coordination mechanisms operating in cross-functional teams. The analysis of the features of cross-functional teams allows us to determine that they are built on the principles of adhocracy and impact the development of knowledge potential of companies significantly. However, cross-functional teams require a special management approach. The paper presents directions for further development of the research such as empirical analysis of the influence of various coordination mechanisms on knowledge sharing in a cross-functional team. The results of the study contribute to further research on cross-functional teams and effective knowledge sharing.