In the present-day competitive business environment, organisations increasingly adopt a cross-functional team approach for product or process development. A cross-functional team consists of employees from different functional areas such as research and development, production, marketing, finance, engineering, quality control, procurement and customer service. These members work together toward a common innovation or development objective. The approach is particularly important in the management of R&D and innovation because successful innovation requires the integration of technical, commercial and operational knowledge. Traditionally, product development was often performed sequentially. The R&D department developed a product, after which production, marketing and other departments became involved. Such a system could result in delays, communication gaps, cost escalation and difficulties in commercialising innovations. Cross-functional teams overcome these limitations by involving relevant specialists from the beginning of the development process. Different perspectives are considered simultaneously, enabling organisations to make better and faster decisions. One major advantage of cross-functional teams is improved coordination between R&D and other organisational functions. R&D specialists may understand