Slippage in the System: The Effects of Errors in Transactive Memory Behavior on Team Performance

[Excerpt] Although researchers have consistently shown that the implicit coordination provided by transactive memory positively affects team performance, the benefits of transactive memory systems depend heavily on team members’ ability to accurately identify the expertise of their teammates and communicate expertise-specific information with one another. This introduces the opportunity for errors to enter the system, as the expertise of individual team members may be misunderstood or misrepresented, leading to the reliance on information from the wrong source or the loss of information through incorrect assignment. As Hollingshead notes, “information may be transferred or explicitly delegated to the ‘wrong’ individual in the system, e.g., one who does not have responsibility for that type of information or is unlikely to remember it due to a lack of expertise”. While researchers recognize the likelihood of such behavioral errors, little research has examined their potential impact in teams. The current study, therefore, focuses on the effects of errors in transactive memory behavior on the emergence of team cognitive structures and resultant performance in the initial stage of team interaction. To develop our hypotheses, we first discuss the types of behaviors involved in the development and operation of transactive memory systems, identify where errors may arise, and discuss their effects on team performance. Then, we attempt to uncover the cognitive processes underlying those effects. More specifically, we introduce mental model accuracy and transactive memory cognitions and suggest that each mediates the negative relationship between errors in transactive memory behavior and team performance. While the possible risks of faulty transactive memory system development have been acknowledged in prior research, it has also been suggested that transactive memory errors can be easily corrected and their effects on performance subsequently minimized. The current study challenges this assumption and in doing so advances our understanding of not only the relationship between errors in transactive memory behavior and team performance but also the mechanisms that might help explain this relationship

Superteam Transactions: The Effect of an Intelligent Assistant in Virtual Teams

The 2020 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends report identifies emerging advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) that are enabling humans and machines to interact in new ways (Deloitte Institute, 2020). Deloitte uses the term “superteams†to represent the integration of AI into teams. Examples of such interactions include the use of AI in a project at Microsoft to analyze and organize data that are then used to create knowledge networks for team members (Deloitte Institute, 2020). In many instances, the integration of AI into teams has taken the form of an intelligent assistant that provides relevant information when needed by aiding in knowledge sharing, application, and collaboration. Opus Research refers to 2021 as “The Year of the Ubiquitous Intelligent Assistants†noting that the use of intelligent assistants in businesses has grown significantly due to the Covid-19 pandemic (Miller, 2021). As a result, organizations have expanded the use of intelligent assistants in virtual teams. Team performance among virtual team members is dependent upon the sharing and application of knowledge during the execution of work. Virtual teams are in a unique position relative to knowledge sharing and application since they rarely, if ever, meet face-to-face and rely upon technology-mediated communications. Temporal, geographical, and cultural differences serve to create barriers to knowledge sharing and, thus, the effective application of knowledge when needed (Kanawattanachai & Yoo, 2007; Sarker, Sarker, Nicholson, & Joshi, 2005). Understanding the impact of knowledge sharing and application among virtual teams involves socio-cognitive processes. Transactive memory theory, developed by Wegner (1986), is based on the view that individuals serve as external memory aids for other individuals. Individuals thus depend upon each other to remember specific knowledge domains (Kanawattanachai & Yoo, 2007). A transactive memory system (TMS) develops among team members based on a shared understanding of who knows what within the group. Kanawattanachai and Yoo (2007) demonstrate that virtual teams with developed TMS can effectively coordinate tasks and knowledge among team members. In their study, virtual teams developed TMS over an extended time, such that performance improvements began to manifest in eight weeks. Specifically, this research seeks to understand (1) What is the impact of an intelligent assistant\u27s relationship between transactive memory systems and knowledge sharing within virtual teams?; (2) What is the impact of an intelligent assistant\u27s relationship between transactive memory systems and knowledge application within virtual teams? Our research extends the Choi et al. (2010) research model with the Bachrach et al. (2019) concept of an antecedent team member with special characteristics, an intelligent assistant. We seek to understand how the intelligent assistant team member contributes to the transactive memory system and knowledge sharing and application among all virtual team members. We plan to distribute a survey to teams who are using an intelligent assistant to understand these interactions and influences in the knowledge sharing and application processes

The Influence of Subgroup Dynamics on Knowledge Coordination in Distributed Teams: A Transactive Memory System and Group Faultline Perspective

With the rapid growth of globalization, distributed teams have become increasingly common in organizations. This research investigates the impact of inter-subgroup dynamics on knowledge coordination in distributed teams. To address this research question, we extend and apply theory from two primary sources – Transactive Memory Systems (TMS) theory and the faultline model. The paper uses data collected from 22 distributed MBA student teams to provide several novel insights into how perceived faultlines impact team processes (knowledge coordination) and outcomes (team performance and member satisfaction). First, perceived faultlines reduce knowledge coordination, which is an important antecedent of team performance and member satisfaction. Second, knowledge coordination fully mediates the negative effect of perceived faultines on team performance and member satisfaction. Third, low levels of TMS not only impair performance, but also reduce member satisfaction in distributed teams. Implications for research and practice are discussed together with potential avenues for future research

Does Dormant Faultline Still Matter in Distributed Teams? Extending the Faultline Concept to Distributed Environment

Subgroup divisions based on demographic characteristics such as age, gender, and race (the notion of dormant team fautlines) have been found to influence team processes and outcomes in face-to-face teams. This research extends the faultline concept to distributed environment, by proposing that recognized faultlines, instead of dormant faultline, will have a negative impact on distributed team performance and an important team cognitive process – Transactive Memory Systems (TMS). The research model was tested based on survey data collected from 156 MBA students in 42 distributed teams. Our results show that in distributed teams where each team member locates at a different location and never meet face-to-face, recognized faultlines have a negative relationship to both team performance and TMS, while dormant faultlines only have a negative link to TMS, but no significant relationship to team performance. Implications for research and practice are discussed together with potential avenues for future research

The Antecedents and Consequences of Agile Practices: A Multi-Period Empirical Study of Software Teams in Time-Bound Projects

Through a multi-period study of software teams in time-bound projects, we address the question: In what contexts do agile methods improve systems development performance? Our model includes team network and task characteristics as antecedents and transactive memory system (TMS) as a consequence of the use of agile practices. We further posit that team TMS also moderates the impact of agile practices on project performance. We test the hypothesized model using data collected in three waves from student teams who developed a database system over the course of a semester. Results evince that project performance does not improve through the use of agile practices alone, but does improve when task variability is high and the project team has a high degree of TMS. Results also indicate that the knowledge structure of a software team changes over time and the use of agile practices also directly contributes to the development of TMS within the team

To Share or Not to Share: Consequential Impacts of IT Support on the Knowledge Processes of IT Project Teams

This study is a methodological replication of Choi et al.\u27s (2010) study that examines individuals’ perceptions of team interaction for knowledge sharing and application to accomplish team goals. Choi et al. (2010) explain the impact of information technologies (IT) on the development of transactive memory systems on the promotion of knowledge management practices and, consequently, on team performance. The original study reveals that knowledge sharing does not have a direct impact on team performance. The current study methodologically replicates Choi et al.’s (2010) research in the context of IT project teams. Two identified potential differentiating contexts are (1) the contemporary IT capable of supporting knowledge management practices may have evolved into more sophisticated technologies compared to those that existed during the time the original study was conducted, and (2) the sample of individuals in this study specifically worked with IT project teams instead of more generic knowledge-based teams in an organization. In this replication study, we examined whether the hypotheses still hold at the individual level of analysis. Scrutinizing knowledge processes while accounting for the above-mentioned differences may help us understand better IT project team performance, and consequently, increase the likelihood of IT project success

Data Envelopment Analysis (Dea) approach In efficiency transport manufacturing industry in Malaysia

The objective of this study was to measure of technical efficiency, transport manufacturing industry in Malaysia score using the data envelopment analysis (DEA) from 2005 to 2010. The efficiency score analysis used only two inputs, i.e., capital and labor and one output i.e., total of sales. The results shown that the average efficiency score of the Banker, Charnes, Cooper - Variable Returns to Scale (BCC-VRS) model is higher than the Charnes, Cooper, Rhodes - Constant Return to Scale (CCR-CRS) model. Based on the BCC-VRS model, the average efficiency score was at a moderate level and only four sub-industry that recorded an average efficiency score more than 0.50 percent during the period study. The implication of this result suggests that the transport manufacturing industry needs to increase investment, especially in human capital such as employee training, increase communication expenses such as ICT and carry out joint ventures as well as research and development activities to enhance industry efficiency

The effects of team-skills training on transactive memory and performance

The existence of effective Transactive Memory Systems (TMS) in teams has been found to enhance task performance. Methods of developing Transactive Memory (TM) are therefore an important focus of research. This study aimed to explore one such method, the use of a generic team-skills training programme to develop TM and subsequent task performance. Sixteen three-member teams were all trained to complete a complex collaborative task, prior to which half the teams (n=8), completed a team-skills training programme. Results confirmed that those teams who had been trained to develop a range of team skills such as problem-solving, interpersonal relationships, goal setting and role allocation, evidenced significantly higher team skill, TM and performance than those who were not trained in such skills. Results are discussed with reference to the wider TM literature and the mechanisms through which team-skills training could facilitate the more rapid development of TM

Building the Infrastructure: The Effects of Role Identification Behaviors on Team Cognition Development and Performance

The primary purpose of this study was to extend theory and research regarding the emergence of mental models and transactive memory in teams. Utilizing Kozlowski et al.’s (1999) model of team compilation, we examine the effect of role identification behaviors and argue that such behaviors represent the initial building blocks of team cognition during the role compilation phase of team development. We then hypothesized that team mental models and transactive memory would convey the effects of these behaviors onto team performance in the team compilation phase of development. Results from 60 teams working on a command and control simulation supported our hypotheses

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