Work is increasingly complex, specialized, and interdependent, requiring coordination across roles, disciplines, organizations, and sectors to achieve desired outcomes. Relational coordination theory proposes that relationships of shared goals, shared knowledge, and mutual respect help to support frequent, timely, accurate, problem-solving communication, and vice versa, enabling stakeholders to effectively coordinate their work across boundaries. While the theory contends that cross-cutting structures can strengthen relational coordination, and that relational coordination promotes desired outcomes for multiple stakeholders, the empirical evidence supporting the theory has not previously been synthesized. In this article, we systematically review all empirical studies assessing the predictors and outcomes of relational coordination published from 1991 to 2019. We find evidence supporting the existing theory and discuss how that evidence supports expanding the theory from a linear structure–process–outcomes model to a dynamic model of change. An agenda for researchers and practitioners is proposed.

工作变得越来越复杂，专业化和相互依赖，需要跨角色，学科，组织和部门进行协调才能实现预期的结果。关系协调理论提出，共享目标，共享知识和相互尊重的关系有助于支持频繁，及时，准确，解决问题的沟通，反之亦然，从而使利益相关者能够跨边界有效地协调其工作。尽管该理论认为跨领域结构可以加强关系协调，并且关系协调可以为多个利益相关者带来期望的结果，但支持该理论的经验证据以前并未得到综合。在本文中，我们系统地回顾了所有评估1991年至2019年发布的关系协调的预测因素和结果的实证研究。我们找到了支持现有理论的证据，并讨论了该证据如何支持将理论从线性结构，过程，结果模型扩展为动态模型。改变。提出了研究人员和从业人员的议程。