A dual-process contingency model of leadership, transactive memory systems and team performance

In complex markets, use of teams is becoming more prevalent to capitalize on shared knowledge and expertise across members - often called transactive memory systems (TMS). For organizations to execute and benefit from a transactive memory approach, it is critical to improve understanding of how leadership and external environments influence translation of TMS into improved performance. Drawing on leadership, transactive memory and contingency theories we examine internal and external factors to explain team performance via TMS. Using data from 79 sales teams in a Fortune 250 industrial goods and services firm, we find that transformational leadership has a stronger relationship with TMS in smaller teams and transactional leadership has a stronger relationship with TMS in less tenured teams. Finally, our results also indicate that the strength of the relationship between TMS and team performance depends on market dynamism. Implications of these results for theory and practice are discussed.