Reconstructing the concept of team fluidity for the digitized era

Abstract

In the modern digitized business environment, organizations are facing continual transformation in response to threats and opportunities. Team — an essential component of organizations — has evolved from an intact social system characterised by clear boundaries and differentiated roles to an emergent social system with fluidity in various aspects. To better understand fluidity in the team context, we review the previous literature and reconstruct the meaning of team fluidity. We define team fluidity as a team state characterized by team membership change, shorter team member tenure, unclear team boundary, and emergent team structure. We hope that an integrated understanding of team fluidity can shed light on both management theories and practices.