KNOWING WHAT AND WHOM OTHER PEOPLE KNOW: LINKING TRANSACTIVE MEMORY WITH EXTERNAL CONNECTIONS IN ORGANIZATIONAL GROUPS.

Abstract

If group members are more knowledgeable about the expertise of other group members, does the group performance improve? This study develops an organizationally situated measure of transactive memory-situated expertise-- and evaluates this measure's role in determining group performance. The measure builds from research on transactive memory, social networks, and group process. The measure is tested in a study of 27 cross-functional teams in a large retail company. The results indicate that stronger situated expertise systems are associated with increased group performance. Situated expertise also mediates the relationship between several other group characteristics and group performance. Higher group situated expertise is found to be related to a collaborative group culture, more frequent external help seeking activity, and longer group tenure. Higher situated expertise is also found to mediate the relationship between group tenure and group performance and partially mediate the relationship between external assistance seeking activity and group performance.