The Role of Project Team Collaboration in R&D Performance

Teamwork or collaboration among professionals, an important element of most R&D laboratories, has received little study in relation to technical performance. This study analyzes the relationship between individual perceptions of team collaboration and individual technical performance in a research and development laboratory. Partial correlations are used to evaluate different models of causality between collaboration, individual needs, opportunities, need satisfaction and technical performance. The study concludes that the relationship between perceived team collaboration and technical performance is not direct. Rather, one particular aspect of collaboration, termed knowledge-based risk taking, creates greater opportunities for scientists and engineers to fulfill a variety of personal needs in the job setting, and these greater opportunities lead to higher technical performance. The study suggests R&D managers can promote greater opportunities for individuals to meet job needs and thus achieve greater technical performance by encouraging a risk taking attitude toward innovation and a collaborative team process within technical work groups.