The Fortune article refers to the paper Mitigating the Dark Side of Agile Teams: Peer Pressure, Leaders’ Control, and the Innovative Output of Self‐managing Teams. Volberda, a professor of Strategy & Innovation, published the paper with his co-authors in the Journal of Product Innovation Management in June 2021. According to Fortune.com, 'The common belief is that a flat structure offers workers more autonomy, improves decision-making, and spurs innovation. Yet new research shows that it may also give rise to informal management structures that lead to peer pressure and reduce innovative output'.
One of the findings in Volberda's paper was that peer pressure in self-managed teams has a detrimental effect on innovative output.

Relevance

Fortune.com is a U.S.-based globally recognised leader in business news and reporting. The fact that Fortune.com referred to the ABS study reflects the paper’s relevance and quality in the field of business innovation. Readers with a subscription can view the full article on the Fortune.com website.