Towards a concept of autonomy for teams developing a new business within existing companies

Abstract

The paper builds on the argument that cross-functional teams require autonomy for developing a new business. The paper add on the ongoing discussion to develop a concept of autonomy that defines the playing field for those teams. It is argued that the concept of autonomy inheres the dimensions functional, decision making and strategy making autonomy. We provide two in-depth case studies of high-tech companies that contrast the concept of autonomy in the context of cross-functional teams that engage in new business development activities. Based on these case studies we develop a new concept of autonomy and argue that our concept defines the playing field that cross-functional teams require for developing a new business.