The effect of cooperative team culture on innovation

Rieger, Verena; Klarmann, Martin

Abstract

Although companies often use teams in innovation processes, the question whether cooperation in groups is helpful or harmful to innovation development has been debated for years. This paper addresses this question using three studies: a lab experiment, an online experiment, and a field study. The present research expects a U-shaped effect of cooperative culture on the market potential of a team’s ideas, based on Steiner’s classical model of group productivity. The results reveal a U-shaped effect, as predicted, indicating that, to help groups generate ideas with high market potential, groups’ culture should be either highly cooperative or not at all cooperative. The three studies, which are conducted on the group and individual levels, help to disentangle the processes and outcomes that group culture triggers.