Research and Development Teams as a Perennial Source of Competitive Advantage in the Innovation Adoption Process

Focus of contemporary organizations is continuous creativity and innovation to face market dynamism. Therefore, organizations need to encourage research and development teams to launch new and innovative products/ideas. This article reviewed literature to identify variables that propagate the innovation adoption process in research and development teams. The variables that promote creativity and innovation within team members are the emotionally intelligent resonant leadership style of supervisors, team members’ characteristics, information sharing processes and task reflexivity. This study adopted a systematic review of literature analyzing publications from the 1990s to 2014, followed by the development of a conceptual framework, a discussion including a critical analysis, conclusion and managerial implications.