Is team cohesion a double edged sword for promoting innovation in software development projects?

Abstract

Creation of new knowledge in teams requires collaboration among its team members. Although individual creativity is important, no single individual possesses all the skills and knowledge necessary to deal with complexity in knowledge work.  Therefore, team cohesion is considered a prerequisite in innovation. However, in this study we argue that team cohesion could be a double edged sword. It could even be detrimental to innovation at high levels of team cohesion. The findings of this study with 56 software projects quantitatively support this premise. These findings have useful implications for practitioners engaged in knowledge work