Cross-Functional Coordination, Status–Authority Asymmetry, and Contingent Exploitation of Digital Technology

Abstract

Cross-functional coordination is common in contemporary work and requires professionals with different expertise and roles to cooperate to complete tasks. However, conflicts can exist between functions. This study focuses on a specific factor that impedes cross-functional coordination – status–authority asymmetry, where professionals with lower status are assigned functional authority to supervise higher-status professionals and demand their compliance with particular processes or tasks. The existing literature suggests strategies for the low-status group to elicit the high-status group’s compliance; however, neither approach is cost-effective. We identify new opportunities in the digital age and investigate how low-status professionals can utilize digital technology to improve cross-functional coordination. We conducted a 17-month ethnographic study in a Chinese hospital to determine how low-status pharmacists obtain compliance from high-status doctors in the prescription review process. We propose that contingent exploitation (i.e., strategically restricted utilization of digital technology) is an effective strategy to achieve the low-status function’s purposes. Through strategic configuration of process streamlining, knowledge imprinting, and compliance enforcement, the low-status group can exert functional authority without evoking fierce resistance from the high-status group. This study contributes to the literature on cross-functional coordination and extends our understanding of technological adaptation in a cross-functional context.

摘要

跨职能协调在当代工作中十分常见, 需要具有不同专长和角色的专业人士彼此合作完成任务。然而, 不同职能之间可能存在一定冲突。本研究关注了阻碍跨职能协调的一个因素——地位- 职权不对称, 即地位较低的专业人士被赋予职权来监督地位较高的人员, 并要求其遵守特定流程或任务。现有文献已经讨论了低地位者获取高地位者服从的策略, 但这些策略都需要低地位者付出较大代价且收效不保。我们在数字时代发现了新的机遇, 探讨了低地位专业人士如何利用数字技术改善跨职能协调。我们在中国的一家医院进行了为期17个月的民族志研究, 探讨了低地位的药师如何在处方审核中获取高地位医生的配合。我们提出权变式利用 (即有策略地限制对数字技术的利用), 该策略能够有效实现低地位群体的职能目标。通过对流程优化、知识印记、强制服从等维度进行策略化构型, 低地位群体能够在不引发高地位群体强烈抵制的情况下行使职权。本研究对跨职能协调研究做出了贡献, 并扩展了对跨职能背景下技术适应的理解。