Transactive memory systems in context: A meta-analytic examination of contextual factors in transactive memory systems development and team performance.

Research on transactive memory systems (TMS) has been conducted in a variety of teams, a range of task types and increasingly, in settings around the world. Despite this proliferation, there has been relative inattention to contextual factors that produce TMS and explain heterogeneity in the TMS to team performance relationship. TMS studies are typically conducted in homogeneous settings (i.e., teams located in a single country) and often with sources of potential variation (i.e., environmental volatility, leadership, team human capital, and diversity) in TMS development controlled. Collating these individual studies, we use meta-analytic techniques to illuminate key contextual factors that may shape TMS and influence the TMS-performance association. Using 76 empirical studies representing 6,869 sampling units, we find that the strength of the TMS to performance relationship varies, depending on features of the national cultural context-the impact of TMS is stronger in cultural contexts where power distance and in-group collectivism are higher. Our results also suggest that environmental volatility, leadership effectiveness, and team human capital are positively associated with TMS, and informational and gender diversity are negatively associated with TMS development. Our findings also indicate fruitful areas for future research specifically aimed toward disentangling the effects of environmental, team, and national cultural context on TMS and team performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Egocentric reciprocity and the role of friendship and anger.

In this research, we examine the phenomenon of egocentric reciprocity, where individuals protect self-interest by adopting an eye-for-an-eye strategy in negatively imbalanced exchanges, and by taking advantage of overly generous treatment in positively imbalanced exchanges. We conducted two experiments using a modified ultimatum game examining attitudinal and behavioral responses to imbalanced exchanges. The experiments allowed us to explore the moderating role of relational closeness (i.e., whether the game partner was a friend or a stranger) and the mediating role of anger and indebtedness in these moderated relationships. Our results consistently demonstrate the phenomenon of egocentric reciprocity. Most importantly, this research reveals that friendship places a boundary on this egocentric tendency, and that the effects may partially be explained by anger experienced in response to exchange.

You don't always get what you want, and you don't always want what you get: An examination of control-desire for control congruence in transactional relationships.

In this research we develop a framework to examine the drivers of customers' desire for control over the sales relationship, and consequences of fit between perceived and desired control. Data collected in a lagged field study of 144 retailer manager (customer)-salesperson dyads were modeled using hierarchical linear modeling and response surface modeling techniques. Results from our analysis reveal that salesperson expertise drives retailers' desire for control in these relationships. In addition, while incongruence in perceived-desired control was negatively associated with both satisfaction and objective sales, retailer satisfaction was higher when both desired and perceived control were high. Further, as desired and perceived control over the sales relationship both increase, product sales initially decrease, and then increase, exhibiting a "U-shaped" effect. Implications for both theory and practice are discussed. These include adaptive sales training to identify misalignment between desired and perceived control, optimization of cocreation strategies, incorporation of interorganizational relational constructs, exploration of triadic social network configurations, examination of unmet expectations, and the implications of assimilation-contrast theory.

The role of team goal monitoring in the curvilinear relationship between team efficacy and team performance.

In this research, we apply a team self-regulatory perspective to build and test theory focusing on the relationships between team efficacy and 2 key team performance criteria: a performance behavior (i.e., team effort) and a performance outcome (i.e., objective team sales). We theorize that rather than having a linear association, the performance benefits of team efficacy reach a point of inflection, reflective of too much of a good thing. Further, in an effort to establish a boundary condition of the inverted-U shaped relationship we predict, we also test the moderating role played by team goal monitoring in the nonmonotonic relationship between team efficacy and team performance. The results from a lagged field test, in which we collect multisource data from 153 technology sales teams, reveal a significant curvilinear association that is moderated by team goal monitoring behavior. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

The influence of time management skill on the curvilinear relationship between organizational citizenship behavior and task performance.

In this research we integrate resource allocation and social exchange perspectives to build and test theory focusing on the moderating role of time management skill in the nonmonotonic relationship between organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and task performance. Results from matching survey data collected from 212 employees and 41 supervisors and from task performance metrics collected several months later indicate that the curvilinear association between OCB and task performance is significantly moderated by employees' time management skill. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Fostering good citizenship through ethical leadership: exploring the moderating role of gender and organizational politics.

Considering the implications of social exchange theory as a context for social role behavior, we tested relations between ethical leadership and both person- and task-focused organizational citizenship behavior and examined the roles played by employee gender and politics perceptions. Although social exchange theory predicts that ethical leadership is positively associated with citizenship, social role theory predicts that the nature of this relationship may vary on the basis of gender and politics perceptions. Results from data collected from 288 supervisor-subordinate dyads indicate that the pattern of male versus female employees' citizenship associated with ethical leadership depends significantly on their perceptions of politics. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Effects of task interdependence on the relationship between helping behavior and group performance.

The authors examine whether task interdependence moderates the relationship between the helping form of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and group performance. In a laboratory study, 62 groups with 3 members each completed a card-sequencing activity in which the level of task interdependence among group members was manipulated. Independent evaluators assessed helping by viewing videotapes of the groups' interactions during the sequencing activities. Performance was measured as a combined function of group speed and accuracy. Two prior field studies reported contradictory results regarding the impact of helping on group performance. Results from this study suggest that task interdependence may explain these results, and that the relationship between helping and group performance depends on the level of task interdependence required of group members.

Organizational citizenship behavior and performance evaluations: exploring the impact of task interdependence.

The influence of task interdependence on the importance attributed to organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) in evaluations of employee performance was investigated in 3 studies. In Study 1,238 undergraduates were exposed to a task interdependence manipulation and a unit-level performance manipulation and provided citizenship ratings. In Study 2,148 master of business administration students were exposed to a task interdependence manipulation and then rated the importance of OCB in their evaluations of employee performance. In Study 3,130 managers rated the task interdependence in their unit of principal responsibility and the importance of OCB in their overall evaluations of employee performance. The results suggest task interdependence may affect the importance attributed to OCB by evaluators. Implications of these results are explored.

The impact of situational constraints, role stressors, and commitment on employee altruism.

This study investigated relations between 3 work-related stressors (role ambiguity, role conflict, and organizational constraints) and altruistic behavior in the workplace. It was predicted that each stressor would be negatively related to altruism and that these relations would be moderated by affective commitment (AC). Data from 144 incumbent-supervisor dyads revealed that all 3 stressors were weakly and negatively related to altruism. Two of these relationships were moderated by AC, although not as predicted. Organizational constraints were positively related to altruism among those reporting high levels of AC but negatively related among those reporting low levels of AC. The pattern was exactly opposite for role conflict. Implications of these findings are discussed.