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Knowledge Utilization, Coordination, and Team Performance

Author

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  • Ray Reagans

    (Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142)

  • Ella Miron-Spektor

    (Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management, Technion–Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel)

  • Linda Argote

    (Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213)

Abstract

Considerable research has established the superior performance of teams on which team members utilize specialized knowledge and also develop transactive processes that promote coordination. Less is known, however, about the consequences for team performance when team members only possess one of the two productivity factors. We develop and test a framework highlighting the distinct challenges these teams will face. In particular, our results show that each productivity factor contributed significantly more to team performance when the other factor was present. And our findings also illustrate a potential failure mode for knowledge utilization. If team members could not coordinate their collective efforts, utilizing knowledge undermined team performance. Our framework outlines a similar risk for too much coordination, if team members cannot utilize their specialized knowledge and are asked to perform a task with a “rugged” performance landscape. We discuss the implications of our framework and results for theory and practice.

Suggested Citation

  • Ray Reagans & Ella Miron-Spektor & Linda Argote, 2016. "Knowledge Utilization, Coordination, and Team Performance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(5), pages 1108-1124, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:27:y:2016:i:5:p:1108-1124
    DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2016.1078
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    4. Miron-Spektor, Ella & Emich, Kyle J. & Argote, Linda & Smith, Wendy K., 2022. "Conceiving opposites together: Cultivating paradoxical frames and epistemic motivation fosters team creativity," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    5. Kenny Ching & Enrico Forti & Evan Rawley, 2021. "Extemporaneous Coordination in Specialist Teams: The Familiarity Complementarity," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 32(1), pages 1-17, January.
    6. Melody H. Chang, 2023. "Cascading innovation: R&D team design and performance implications of mobility," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(5), pages 1218-1253, May.
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    8. Katharina Lix & Amir Goldberg & Sameer B. Srivastava & Melissa A. Valentine, 2022. "Aligning Differences: Discursive Diversity and Team Performance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(11), pages 8430-8448, November.
    9. Chen, Tingting & Li, Fuli & Chen, Xiao-Ping & Ou, Zhanying, 2018. "Innovate or die: How should knowledge-worker teams respond to technological turbulence?," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 1-16.
    10. Zhu, Peiyu & Miao, Xiaoming & Jin, Shumo & Moehler, Robert, 2023. "Transactive memory system, boundary-spanning search and business model innovation: the moderating role of environmental dynamism," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    11. Jayarajan Samuel & Zhiqiang (Eric) Zheng & Vijay Mookerjee, 2024. "Task Characteristics and Incentives in Collaborative Problem Solving: Evidence from Three Field Experiments," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 35(1), pages 414-433, March.
    12. Zhang, Feng & Jiang, Guohua & Cantwell, John A., 2019. "Geographically Dispersed Technological Capability Building and MNC Innovative Performance: The Role of Intra-firm Flows of Newly Absorbed Knowledge," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 1-1.

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