The Impact of Perceived Subgroup Formation on Transactive Memory Systems and Performance in Distributed Teams

Abstract

With distributed teams becoming increasingly common in organizations, improving their performance is a critical challenge for both practitioners and researchers. This research examines how group members' perception of subgroup formation affects team performance in fully distributed teams. The authors propose that individual members' perception about the presence of subgroups within the team has a negative effect on team performance, which manifests itself through decreases in a team's transactive memory system (TMS). Using data from 154 members of 41 fully distributed teams (where no group members were colocated), the authors found that members' perceptions of the existence of subgroups impair the team's TMS and its overall performance. They found these effects to be statistically significant. In addition, decreases in a group's TMS partially mediate the effect of perceived subgroup formation on team performance. The authors discuss the implications of their findings for managerial action, as well as for researchers, and they propose directions for future research.

Perceived Subgroups, TMS, and Team Performance: The Moderating Role of Guanxi Perception

“…Perceived subgroups refer to group members’ recognition of subgroups splits within the group (Shemla et al, 2016). Previous research has supported the expectation that perception of subgroups can exert deleterious effects on team processes as well as team outcomes (Jehn and Bezrukova, 2010; Cronin et al, 2011; Carton and Cummings, 2012; Shen et al, 2016). For instance, Carton and Cummings (2013) examined the “self-reinforcing” effects of perceived subgroups on affective integration, such that perceived subgroups decreased trust, respect, and liking among teammates, which further reinforced subgroup splits.…”

“…For instance, Carton and Cummings (2013) examined the “self-reinforcing” effects of perceived subgroups on affective integration, such that perceived subgroups decreased trust, respect, and liking among teammates, which further reinforced subgroup splits. Shen et al (2016) also argued that perceived subgroups exposed subgroups to frustration, anxiety, and hostility by members of other subgroups. Overall, prior research suggests that perceived subgroups are detrimental to team dynamics and effectiveness (Jehn and Bezrukova, 2010; Cronin et al, 2011).…”

“…More recently, scholars have begun to focus on the mediating role of TMS between perceived subgroups and team performance. For instance, Shen et al (2016) proposed that TMS partially mediated the effect of perceived subgroups on team performance in distributed teams, while Seong et al (2015) explored that perceptions of group-level fit worked through TMS to influence team performance.…”

“…In particular, we suggest that perceived subgroups inhibit teams from developing a robust TMS, which eventually lead to expertise underutilization, and performance deterioration. More importantly, going beyond existing research (e.g., Shen et al, 2016), we also examine a potential contingency factor that influences the relationship between perceived subgroups and TMS in the Chinese context.…”