Team Learning: A Theoretical Integration and Review

With the increasing emphasis on work teams as the primary architecture of organizational structure, scholars have begun to focus attention on team learning, the processes that support it, and the important outcomes that depend on it. Although the literature addressing learning in teams is broad, it is also messy and fraught with conceptual confusion. This chapter presents a theoretical integration and review. The goal is to organize theory and research on team learning, identify actionable frameworks and findings, and emphasize promising targets for future research. We emphasize three theoretical foci in our examination of team learning, treating it as multilevel (individual and team, not individual or team), dynamic (iterative and progressive; a process not an outcome), and emergent (outcomes of team learning can manifest in different ways over time). The integrative theoretical heuristic distinguishes team learning process theories, supporting emergent states, team knowledge representations, and respective influences on team performance and effectiveness. Promising directions for theory development and research are discussed

A Transactive Memory Systems Perspective on Virtual Team Creativity

Regulating the creativity of virtual teams (VTs) has turned up to be a major concern for many companies. Furthermore, organizations with geographically distributed teams, are struggling to keep up satisfactory VT relations to enhance creativity initiatives. This research analyses how firms can manage the relationship between transactive memory systems (TMS) components (specialization, coordination and credibility) with VT creativity. We examined the collected data from 231 professionals employing structural equation modeling to assess the model fit and partial least squares to evaluate the robustness of our results. Our investigations found different results. The first conclusion shows that TMS components have a positive impact on VT creativity. Second, our study gives a confirmation of the combined intra and inter-TMS components’ effect on VT creativity

The Effect of Virtual Team Characteristics in Co-creation on the Quality of UGC Videos

Co-creation is a newly emerging video production method on the UGC video platform. Based on the transactive memory systems and social capital theory, this paper describes the characteristics of the virtual team formed in the co-creation, and further explores the influence of virtual team characteristics and member characteristics on video quality. This paper collects 49,785 Bilibili co-creation video data, and uses natural language processing methods and quantitative analysis methods to carry out empirical research. The study found that the specialization of virtual teams has an inverted U-shaped impact on video quality, while coordination has a positive impact and credibility has a negative impact. Additionally, the trendiness and fame of team members can enhance the inverted U-shaped impact of specialization, and fame also enhance the impact of coordination. The research results provide theoretical support for creators and managers to optimize the co-creation mode on UGC platforms

Communication in an "Officeless firm"

New technologies permit new types of organisations. This article describes and analyses one such organisation, an "officeless firm", where all employees work from their own homes and there is no central office. Drawing upon observations and interviews, the modes of communication and the nature of the interpersonal relationships that have permitted this organisation to succeed are described, along with the challenges that face this organisation in the future as it attempts to grow

Teleworking, Team Work and Transactive Memory during the COVID-19 Outbreak

The paper discusses the work from home (WFH) phenomenon during the Covid-19 pandemic and aspects related to teamwork performance for the case of companies operating in Romania in knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS). The paper presents the results of an exploratory investigation based on semi-structured in-depth interviews addressing the effects induced by the intensive WFH on teamwork, teamwork performance, and transactive memory systems (TMS) in the investigated KIBS, during the Covid-19 pandemic. The paper is divided into three parts. The first part presents the purpose of the investigation and the context, introducing the concepts and literature. The second part presents the research method and findings. The third part discusses the research results, indicating that the mandatory WFH imposed by the Covid-19 outbreak has disrupted the coordination between teammates, eroding TMS operation and the level of teamwork performance. The paper concludes on the strong link between teamwork performance during the mandatory WFH period and the presence of TMS reflected by specialization, credibility, and coordination within the team

Virtualness and knowledge in teams: Managing the love triangle of organizations, individuals, and information technology

Information technology can facilitate the dissemination of knowledge across the organization- even to the point of making virtual teams a viable alternative to face-to-face work. However, unless managed, the combination of information technology and virtual work may serve to change the distribution of different types of knowledge across individuals, teams, and the organization. Implications include the possibility that information technology plays the role of a jealous mistress when it comes to the development and ownership of valuable knowledge in organizations; that is. information technology may destabilize the relationship between organizations and their employees when it comes to the transfer of knowledge. The paper advances theory and informs practice by illustrating the dynamics of knowledge development and transfer in more and less virtual teams

Improving job performance through social media : the mediating role of transactive memory capability

This research examines the effects of socialmedia use on job performance, transactivememory capability (TMC) and the role of transactive memory capability as a mediator between job performance and social media use. The study is conducted on the teaching faculty member in the North of India's public universities. A snowball sampling has been employed, and 608 respondents who met the study's selection criteria have been identified. The hypothesis and numerous interactions between variables of this study were tested using Structural Equation Modeling. It has been found that social media has a significant and positive impact on job performance. This study has also indicated a partial mediating role of TMC in the relationship between social media use and job performance. The study adds to the empirical literature by demonstrating the positive effects of social media use by the teaching faculty on TMC development and job performance. It highlights that social media can be considered a legitimate communication tool to increase workplace connectivity. Faculties should understand how social media generates transactive memory capability so that they can use it more effectively. It also fills the gap by considering TMC among teaching faculties working together to store, retrieve and share data through social media in Indian Public universities.peer-reviewe

Drivers for performance in innovative research groups: The mediating role of transactive memory system

This article contributes to research on transactive memory systems (TMSs) by analyzing the relationship between trust, collective mind (CM), and network ties (NT) as antecedents of performance in innovative university research (IUR), and the mediating role of the TMS in these relationships. The conceptual model grounded in seven hypotheses is tested through structural equations modeling. The data analyzed are drawn from 257 directors Spanish university research groups. The results show that TRUST, CM, and NT are positively related to the TMS and that the TMS is positively related to IUR. The most striking result is that the TMS mediates the relationships of TRUST, CM, and NT to IUR, becoming a necessary condition for TRUST, CM, and NT to improve IUR. These results support the conclusion that managers of university research groups should promote the development of TMSs to stimulate IUR in order to make these groups more competitive

Boundary Work and Transactive Memory Systems in Teams: Moderating Effects of the Visibility Affordance

Individuals in work teams frequently cross boundaries across teams, often by using information and communication technologies (ICTs). The current study investigates the effects of members’ boundary work and the visibility affordance of teams’ ICTs on Transactive Memory Systems (TMS) in teams. Survey data from 212 full-time employees whose work hours were divided between multiple teams reveals that boundary spanning enhances the focal team’s TMS credibility and specialization and negatively influences TMS coordination. Additionally, boundary reinforcement positively affects TMS credibility and coordination. The visibility affordance has a direct positive impact on all three dimensions of TMS and a moderating effect for boundary reinforcement such that higher visibility overrides the positive direct effect of boundary reinforcement on TMS. These findings suggest that different types of boundary work contribute to different dimensions of TMS and that teams might consider prioritizing the use of ICTs with high visibility to enhance their TMS

Information Technology and Organizational Learning Interplay: A Survey

The objective of this paper is to provide a systematic review of the evolutionary trends in the research domain of information technology and organizational learning. Having surveyed various journals and key conferences between 2000 and 2018 on the topic, we observe that information technology (IT) has expanded from its general form to various contemporary information systems, e.g. knowledge organization systems, communication and collaborative systems and decision support systems. However, organization learning (OL) now essentially occurs through knowledge management activities, e.g. knowledge acquisition, storing, sharing and application of knowledge. The survey reported here not only validates the interplay of IT and OL but also reveals some important intervening factors between IT and OL, e.g. absorptive capacity, organization culture, user trust, acceptance and satisfaction that work as deterministic elements in the reciprocal relationship of IT and OL. We propose future research to explore interaction between big data analytical systems and organizational learning