Knowledge management in the environment of cross-functional team coopetition: A systematic literature review

Abstract

Knowledge is crucial, but a transient resource that decides over the success or failure of business operations. Consequently, companies aim for the most profitable method to achieve high gains and conservation of knowledge, while excluding rivals to maintain the position of economic advantage as long as possible. To maximize the efforts of knowledge generation, new concepts of organizational processes were established in recent years. To provide a conceptual foundation and identify promising niches for future studies in the important field of team coopetition, existing literature on the factors of cross-functional team coopetition was reviewed, concluding in a systematic review. For this purpose, leading peer-reviewed journals from 2010 to 2021 offered 25 articles that fall within its established search inclusion criteria. Adding to the change of stakeholder project management, the shift from traditional, cooperative-led organizational approaches towards coopetition between two or multiple rivals can lead to promising results. However, it was indicated that this concept often fails due to misleading coordination in a coopetitive tension. Current studies extracted their results from applied team management mostly on short-term organizational, financial, and technical benefits or drawbacks, excluding long-term innovation effects. Most studies were categorized into three outcomes contributing to knowledge management: performance, relationship, and innovation. As a result, it is pointed out that several factors derived from the literature significantly influence the outcomes.