Gratton and Erickson argue that collaboration is harder and more important due to which trend?

• A. Increasing average budgets for data integration projects
• B. Increasing average team sizes
• C. Increasing demand on data integration teams
• D. Shorter average project times

Answer: (C)

The idea being tested is that when the demand placed on data integration teams rises, collaboration becomes both more essential and more challenging. Gratton and Erickson argue that modern work relies on cross-functional collaboration because projects cut across multiple domains, systems, and stakeholders. As demand grows—more data sources, more business users, more requirements—the number of interdependencies increases. That means teams must coordinate more, align goals, and negotiate priorities while juggling evolving needs, which makes collaboration harder. Yet it also elevates its importance, since delivering integrated data successfully depends on input and agreement from many roles beyond a single team.

Why this fits the other choices less well: simply having bigger budgets doesn’t inherently demand more collaboration; larger teams can complicate coordination but the core driver is the rising demand on the team itself. Shorter project times increase pressure, but the trend Gratton and Erickson highlight is the growing demand across stakeholders, which drives the need for collaboration more directly.