Transactive memory system links work team characteristics and performance

Document Type

Journal article

Source Publication

Journal of Applied Psychology

Publication Date

11-1-2007

Volume

92

Issue

6

First Page

1722

Last Page

1730

Publisher

American Psychological Association

Keywords

work team, transactive memory system, team characteristics, performance, team process

Abstract

Teamwork and coordination of expertise among team members with different backgrounds are increasingly recognized as important for team effectiveness. Recently, researchers have examined how team members rely on transactive memory system (TMS; D. M. Wegner, 1987) to share their distributed knowledge and expertise. To establish the ecological validity and generality of TMS research findings, this study sampled 104 work teams from a variety of organizational settings in China and examined the relationships between team characteristics, TMS, and team performance. The results suggest that task interdependence, cooperative goal interdependence, and support for innovation are positively related to work teams' TMS and that TMS is related to team performance; moreover, structural equation analysis indicates that TMS mediates the team characteristics-performance links. Findings have implications both for team leaders to manage their work teams effectively and for team members to improve their team performance.

DOI

10.1037/0021-9010.92.6.1722

Print ISSN

00219010

E-ISSN

19391854

Publisher Statement

Copyright © 2007, American Psychological Association

Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.

Full-text Version

Publisher’s Version

Language

English

Recommended Citation

Zhang, Z. X., Hempel, P. S., Han, Y. L., & Tjosvold, D. (2007). Transactive memory system links work team characteristics and performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(6), 1722-1730. doi: 10.1037/0021-9010.92.6.1722

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