Coordinating expertise in software development teams

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Faraj, S; Sproull, L
• 署名单位: University System of Maryland; University of Maryland College Park; New York University
• 刊物名称: MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0025-1909
• DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.46.12.1554.12072
• 发表日期: 2000
• 页码: 1554-1568
• 关键词: software development; TEAM PERFORMANCE; TEAM PROCESSES; DISTRIBUTED COGNITION; expertise coordination

摘要

Like all teams, knowledge teams must acquire and manage critical resources in order to accomplish their work. The most critical resource for knowledge teams is expertise, or specialized skills and knowledge, but the mere presence of expertise on a team is insufficient to produce high-quality work. Expertise must be managed and coordinated in order to leverage its potential. That is, teams must be able to manage their skill and knowledge interdependencies effectively through expertise coordination, which entails knowing where expertise is located, knowing where expertise is needed, and bringing needed expertise to bear. This study investigates the importance of expertise coordination through a cross-sectional investigation of 69 software development teams. The analysis reveals that expertise coordination shows a strong relationship with team performance that remains significant over and above team input characteristics, presence of expertise, and administrative coordination.