Getting the most out of cross-functional cooperation: Internal structural change as a trigger for customer information use

• We study how cross-functional cooperation, cross-functional knowledge and structural change affect customer information use.
• Despite its direct negative effect on cooperation, change strengthens the positive effect of cooperation on information use.
• Cross-functional knowledge increases both cross-functional cooperation and customer information use.
• We recommend that volatile organizations increase cross-functional knowledge to mitigate the negative effects of change.

Using customer information in the decision making of R&D and production is vital for industrial firms to survive and prosper in an increasingly competitive marketplace. Previous studies show that cross-functional cooperation may have both negative and positive effects on information use. The authors hypothesize that internal structural change positively moderates the relationship between cross-functional cooperation and information use. However, structural change also decreases the quality of cross-functional cooperation. Cross-functional knowledge increases both cross-functional cooperation and customer information use. These hypotheses are tested and supported using a data set consisting of 221 manufacturing and R&D managers in large industrial firms. The findings imply that although internal structural change increases the benefits of cooperative, cross-functional relationships in terms of customer information use, managers in volatile organizations should continue to strengthen cooperative relationships by maintaining and improving sales and marketing contact people's knowledge of manufacturing and R&D.