Transactive memory system and entrepreneurial team performance: the impact of ability to improvise and market competition

Abstract

PurposeDrawing upon the social exchange theory, this study examines the interplay of transactive memory system (TMS) with improvisation and market competition intensity for the impact on entrepreneurship performance.Design/methodology/approachThis study used the temporal separation technique and used a questionnaire survey to collect data with a final sample of 423 valid responses forming 74 entrepreneurial teams from firms across 6 cities in China.FindingsThe expertise and credibility of the TMS has a significant positive impact on entrepreneurial performance and improvisation which mediates the relationship between the expertise and credibility of the TMS and entrepreneurial performance. The intensity of market competition positively moderates the mediating role of improvisation between the expertise and credibility of the TMS and entrepreneurial performance.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature on entrepreneurship in emerging economies and entrepreneurial teams. Literature on TMS lacks studies on entrepreneurship performance. The authors' contextualized TMS perspective examines the impact of specific behavior of improvisation and, therefore, holds the promise to offer a novel angle to investigate how exactly TMS impacts entrepreneurship performance while engaging in micro-level processes and entrepreneurial phenomena such as surprises and response to surprises through improvisation. The study adds the context of social exchange theory to performance of entrepreneurial teams.

The role of transactive memory system of inter-organizational collaboration in innovation and performance

“…Likewise, Cotta and Salvador (2020), Nawata et al (2020) used TMS in a unidimensional concept. Other researchers, such as Hu et al (2022), treated TMS dimensions distinctly as different variables; however, did not argue for their distinct contributions. In this study, we consider that while knowledge specialization is a predictor of innovation, trust and coordination provide important mechanisms for optimizing knowledge sharing and benefitting from knowledge specialization in innovation efforts.…”

“…Likewise, hesitation to share knowledge due to the chance of plagiarism toward each other might also occur. Hence, the availability of trust might enhance information and knowledge sharing (Hu et al, 2022) as the involved parties are willing to rely on each other's perspectives.…”

The meeting points of team entrepreneurial passion, transactive memory systems and team performance: examining mediation and necessity effects

“…Additionally, Burmeister et al (2021) recently showed that firms can leverage TMS by enrolling their employees in educational programmes. In an entrepreneurial context, TMS are associated with strategic alliances (Li and Feng, 2023) whilst also exerting an influence on concepts such as improvisation (Hu et al, 2022), team learning (Kollmann et al, 2020) and organisational ambidexterity (Van Neerijnen et al, 2021).…”

Shared Leadership and Improvisation: Dual Perspective of Cognition-Affection

“…This positive emotion makes them focus on the win-win situation of individuals and teams when addressing challenges, so as to actively implement improvisation [ 41 ]. Contrarily, members with low promotion focus are more prone to fear and anxiety and are unable to achieve a relaxed and calm state of mind, thus affecting the play of creative improvisation [ 5 , 12 ].…”

“…However, due to its complexity, improvisation remains challenging to grasp and the important gap in this literature is still obvious [ 3 , 10 ]. Extant research on improvisation mainly focused on the effect of the team situation and individual traits in shaping individual and team improvisation [ 12 , 13 , 14 ], while less emphasis is placed on leadership, which plays a pivotal role in creating conditions that enable teams to be effective [ 1 , 9 , 15 ]. Moreover, the practice of informal leadership has become more widespread in current organizations as the emphasis on teammate cooperation and coordination is increasing [ 16 , 17 ].…”