Cognitive discrepancies of environment in cross-functional teams: Scale development and validation

This paper introduces the concept of Cognitive Discrepancies of Environment (CDE) and presents a scale designed to measure these variations.To validate the scale, the study employed a multi-stage process involving a comprehensive review of prior research on the external environment, interviews with subject matter experts, and two studies conducted with members of crossfunctional teams (CFT) .The results indicate that CDE consists of four subdimensions reflecting differences in CFT members' perceptions of their external environment, encompassing customer segments, customer demands, markets, and competitors.Furthermore, the findings affirm that CDE is a conceptually unique and distinct construct, separate from established teamwork concepts such as shared mental models and cognitive diversity.Finally, the studies found that the CDE has a negative impact on the CFT performance.These findings carry significant implications for the effective management of cross-functional teams, emphasizing the importance of acknowledging members' perceptual differences in external environments to optimize CFT performance.