Managing team innovation in the research and development (R&D) organization: critical determinants of team effectiveness

Background: Teams are the principal vehicle in developing new drug development strategy and executing the tasks required to accomplish those objectives. The key research questions related to the measurement of team innovation performance in the branded pharmaceutical industry and identification of the drivers for optimal team performance outcomes. This project evaluated the key drivers for team innovation performance (defined as “outcomes”). Team outcomes included new information creation, compression of development time, expansion of image, learning, capability development, growth satisfaction, and overall effectiveness. Methods: A total of 13 questions, with multiple subparts, as part of 7 key dimensions were adapted from previously validated scales. Eligible participants were those who were employed in a pharmaceutical R&D organization and were a member of a drug discovery and/or development team. Survey respondents were prompted to respond to the degree they agreed or disagreed using 5- to 7-point Likert-type scales. All analyses (reliability tests, factor analysis, and multivariate regression) were performed in IBM SPSS v22. Results: While good correlations individually existed between team outcomes (dependent variable) and tested independent variables (autonomy, coaching, climate, proactive personality, empowering leadership, and transactive memory systems [TMSs]), the best predictors identified through multivariate regression analysis were leader and peer coaching and TMSs. Conclusions: This research offers key insights for managers when forming and staffing teams. One is an emphasis on coaching. It is imperative for senior managers to assign individuals to teams who liaise with broader management that are capable of offering coaching and availability for team members to enhance their skills. This is particularly important in a growing hypercompetitive environment that is witnessing continuous strategic change. A second area of emphasis is on TMS, in an expertise-centered organization. As this is a central driver to team performance, it is imperative to improve adaptation skills of team members.