ABSTRACT
Innovation often takes place in teams. Teams ensure that ideas are generated and give people a place where they can work together on innovation. In teams, people feel responsible to contribute to innovation and teamwork motivates people to participate. Teams can be needed to create synergies between disciplines and people who otherwise would not cooperate. The source of an innovation is often an individual, but a group of people is needed to pick up the champion’s ideas, to shape them, to transfer them to others, and to apply them. The innovation leader and champion are often part of an innovation team, an innovation group. The innovation leader needs a team to develop innovations and integrate them into the organization. The innovation champion needs an innovation group to transfer innovations to and to implement them in the firm. The innovation group is an important factor in the innovation process. Coordination of the innovation activities of these teams is an important aspect of the management of innovation and is the subject of many management studies (Gibson and Gibbs, 2006; Kratzer et al., 2006; Martinsuo, 2009; Van der Vegt and Janssen, 2003). This chapter studies the effect of the management of teamwork on the sustainable innovation process. It presents and analyzes the various characteristics of management of teamwork in a large sustainable innovation project. It shows which strategic and operational tactics and methods are used to coordinate innovation teams effectively. This chapter looks for answers to the following questions:
What strategic approaches contribute to the coordination of a sustainable innovation team?
What operational methods contribute to the coordination of a sustainable innovation team?
Where are these approaches and methods (in)effective?
