An analysis of the Transactive Memory System construct and corresponding empirical research from a multi-level perspective Dissertation (Monographie) Eingereicht bei der Fakultät für Betriebswirtschaft der Universität Hamburg zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades eines Doktors der Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften (Dr. rer. pol.) vorgelegt von Volker Peter Wagner geboren in Wangen i. A. Hamburg, 2016 i Prüfungskommission: Vorsitzender: Prof. Dr. Markus Nöth Erstgutachterin: Prof. Dr. Dorothea Alewell Zweitgutachter: Prof. Dr. Rick Vogel Datum der Disputation: 06.10.2016 ii Content List of illustrations ..................................................................................................................... v List of abbreviations .................................................................................................................. vi 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Research problem and objective ...................................................................................... 1 1.2 The structure of this work ................................................................................................ 9 2 Developing a framework for the analysis of Transactive Memory System theory and research ..................................................................................................................................... 12 2.1 Embedding TMS research into the field of Team Cognition ......................................... 12 2.2 Defining teams as complex systems ............................................................................... 16 2.3 What do teams share – Different approaches to the concept of knowledge................... 18 2.3.1 The hierarchy of knowledge .................................................................................... 19 2.3.2 The dynamic theory of organizational knowledge creation .................................... 21 2.3.3 A discursive approach to the concept of knowledge ............................................... 23 2.3.4 Definition of knowledge, information, and non-knowledge in this work ............... 25 2.4 Why do teams share – Cognitive interdependence and motivation ............................... 26 2.5 From the functional perspective of information processing to a dynamic approach ..... 28 2.5.1 The functional Input-Process-Output (I-P-O) perspective ...................................... 29 2.5.2 Conceptual issues of the functional I-P-O paradigm............................................... 31 2.5.3 The Input Mediator Output Input (IMOI) model .................................................... 34 2.6 Emergence in social systems – A multi-level team approach ........................................ 37 2.6.1 The construct of interest – Determining the levels of analysis ............................... 38 2.6.2 Bottom-up and top-down emergent processes ........................................................ 40 2.6.3 Temporal dynamics and path dependencies in emergent processes........................ 46 3 Transferring the concept of Transactive Memory Systems to a multi-level perspective ...... 49 3.1 The early TMS research context .................................................................................... 50 3.2 The original TMS concept reformulated from a multi-level perspective ....................... 51 3.2.1 Individual- and team-level cognitive structures – Transactive Memory ................. 53 3.2.2 Emergent bottom-up transactive processes ............................................................. 58 iii 3.2.3 Top-down influences of team-level cognitive structures ........................................ 62 3.3 The development of a functioning TMS ........................................................................ 64 3.4 Integrating the multi-level TMS construct into the IMOI context ................................. 66 3.4.1 The TMS construct within the IMOI model ............................................................ 66 3.4.2 The need for a construct adaptation to an organizational context and challenges for current TMS research ....................................................................................................... 68 4 Analyzing Transactive Memory System research from a multi-level perspective ............... 70 4.1 Measurement strategies in TMS research ...................................................................... 71 4.1.1 Measurement of cognitive structures ...................................................................... 72 4.1.2 Measurement of interaction ..................................................................................... 74 4.1.3 Measurement of TMSs as a latent construct ........................................................... 75 4.2 Findings in TMS research .............................................................................................. 80 4.2.1 Dyadic research ....................................................................................................... 80 4.2.2 Group research ........................................................................................................ 84 4.2.3 Organizational research ........................................................................................... 93 4.3 Summary and discussion of empirical TMS research .................................................. 110 5 Proposing an adapted multi-level Transactive Memory System model for organizational contexts ................................................................................................................................... 121 5.1 Components of the adapted model ............................................................................... 122 5.1.1 The core of the adapted model – Transactive Memory Systems .......................... 122 5.1.2 Input variables ....................................................................................................... 128 5.1.3 Output variables – Recombination of expertise and performance ........................ 136 5.1.4 Contextual and organizational factors and temporal dynamics ............................ 137 5.2 Contributions of the adapted model ............................................................................. 139 6 Discussion and Outlook ...................................................................................................... 143 References .............................................................................................................................. 148 Appendices ............................................................................................................................. 170 Appendix A – Dyadic TMS research ................................................................................. 171 Appendix B – Group TMS research ................................................................................... 174 Appendix C – Organizational TMS research ..................................................................... 179 Appendix D – Lewis' (2003) composite TMS scale items ................................................. 186 iv List of illustrations List of figures Figure 1: Basic representation of the hierarchy of knowledge p. 19 Figure 2: A functional Input-Process-Output model p. 29 Figure 3: An Input Mediator Output Input model p. 35 Figure 4: Idealistic representation of compositional bottom-up emergence p. 42 Figure 5: Idealistic representation of compilational bottom-up emergence p. 43 Figure 6: Top-down emergent processes p. 44 Figure 7: Possibilities for path dependence in multi-level emergence p. 48 Figure 8: Wegner's initial Transactive Memory System model p. 52 Figure 9: Wegner's initial Transactive Memory Structure proposition p. 54 Figure 10: Combination of integrated and differentiated expertise structures in a p. 58 configural higher-level property Figure 11: Transactive Processes in a Transactive Memory System p. 59 Figure 12: Wegner's multi-level Transactive Memory System in an Input p. 67 Mediator Output Input model Figure 13: Adapted multi-level model of team Transactive Memory Systems p. 123 List of tables Table 1: Definition of knowledge, information, and tacit forms of non- p. 25 knowledge Table 2: Levels of analysis in team research p. 39 Table 3: Two types of bottom-up emergence p. 41 v List of abbreviations cmc computer-mediated-communication ftf face-to-face e.g. exempli gratia (example given) et al. et alii (and others) HRM Human Resource Management ibid. ibidem (in the same place) IMOI Input Mediator Output Input I-P-O Input-Process-Output IT Information technology SMM Shared Mental Model TM Transactive Memory TMM Team Mental Model TMS Transactive Memory System vi 1 Introduction The importance of managing knowledge in an organization is regarded as one of the most critical organizational challenges of our time (Nonaka 1994; Nonaka, Takeuchi 1995; Schreyögg, Geiger 2003; Salas, Fiore 2004b). Organizations must be able to quickly adapt to ever faster changing environments and to develop the dynamic capabilities to transform and utilize their knowledge-based resources in order to gain a lasting competitive advantage and to survive (Argote, Ren 2012; Vogel, Güttel 2013). However, the question of how these knowledge-based resources are utilized by members of an organization is still not thoroughly answered by research (Salas 2005). One answer that is