Coordination Experience and Team Performance: Evidence from the Electronic Games Industry

33 Pages Posted: 1 Jul 2010 Last revised: 25 Jun 2014

See all articles by Cristian L. Dezso

Cristian L. Dezso

University of Maryland - R.H. Smith School of Business

Thorsten Grohsjean

Bocconi University - Department of Management and Technology

Tobias Kretschmer

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU) - Faculty of Business Administration (Munich School of Management); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Date Written: May 3, 2012

Abstract

In cross-functional teams, team performance depends on how skillfully function managers carry out the cross-function coordination of team members’ complementary expertise and activities. In this paper, we argue (i) that function managers’ coordination skills develop in part through the coordination experience gained from interacting with managers from other function, (ii) that coordination experience has general and firm-specific dimensions, and (iii) that coordination experience leads to better team performance. Using data on development teams in the electronic games industry, we show that coordination experience and its general and firm-specific components have a positive impact on the commercial success of electronic games, and that this effect is robust to tests for omitted variables and reverse causality. Our results have implications for the theory of learning and coordination in teams and for the strategy and practice of team design in project-based organizations.

Keywords: coordination, experience, team performance, electronic games industry

JEL Classification: M12, M54

Suggested Citation

Dezso, Cristian L. and Grohsjean, Thorsten and Kretschmer, Tobias, Coordination Experience and Team Performance: Evidence from the Electronic Games Industry (May 3, 2012). Robert H. Smith School Research Paper No. RHS 06-136, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1632612 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1632612

Cristian L. Dezso (Contact Author)

University of Maryland - R.H. Smith School of Business ( email )

Van Munching Hall
College Park, MD 20742
United States
301-405-7832 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/lbpp/faculty/deszo.html

Thorsten Grohsjean

Bocconi University - Department of Management and Technology ( email )

Via Roentgen 1
Milan, MI 20136
Italy

Tobias Kretschmer

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU) - Faculty of Business Administration (Munich School of Management) ( email )

Kaulbachstr. 45
Munich, DE 80539
Germany

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) ( email )

London
United Kingdom

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