Abstract
We build on boundary blurring research to explore the relationship between temporary teams’ characteristics and their performance. We focus on the three main drivers of boundary blurring, namely fluidity, overlap and dispersion, and we develop hypotheses on their direct effect on temporary teams’ performance. Furthermore, we explore to what extent their effect is moderated by different levels of task complexity. We use data on 107 orthopaedic teams using 3D printing technology in a highly specialized research hospital in Italy. Our analysis shows that team overlap has a negative impact on team performance and the impact is stronger when the task complexity is high. Conversely, team dispersion positively impacts team performance, and the positive impact is reinforced in more complex cases.