How management teams foster the transactive memory system–entrepreneurial orientation link: A domino effect model of positive team processes

• Published date: 01 December 2020
• Date: 01 December 2020
• Author: Tobias Kollmann,Christoph Stöckmann,Anika Peschl,Julia M. Kensbock,Simon Hensellek
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/sej.1365

RESEARCH ARTICLE

How management teams foster the transactive

memory system–entrepreneurial orientation link:

A domino effect model of positive team processes

Tobias Kollmann

1

| Simon Hensellek

2

| Christoph Stöckmann

3

|

Julia M. Kensbock

4

| Anika Peschl

5

1

University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen,

Germany

2

Technical University Dortmund, Dortmund,

Germany

3

Seeburg Castle University, Seekirchen am

Wallersee, Austria

4

Maastricht University, Maastricht,

Netherlands

5

Institute of Applied Industrial Engineering

and Ergonomics, Düsseldorf, Germany

Correspondence

Simon Hensellek, Technical University

Dortmund, Friedrich-Wöhler-Weg 6, 44227

Dortmund, Germany.

Email: simon.hensellek@tu-dortmund.de

Abstract

Research Summary: Specialized knowledge can be a facilita-

tor of entrepreneurial orientation (EO), but little is known

about how management teams transform their knowledge

resources into entrepreneurial activity. Complementing the

knowledge-based view with social interdependence theory,

we suggest that team processes mediate the impact of

teams' transactive memory system (TMS) on EO. Our empir-

ical analysis of data from interdisciplinary management

teams shows that a strong TMS serves as a starting point to

initiate a beneficial “domino effect”of positive team interac-

tion patterns (enhanced team learning and participative

decision-making) and positive team psychological processes

(enhanced team identification), which, in turn, foster the

development of EO. We thereby contribute new insights to

the largely unresolved questions about the “where”and

“why”of EO genesis within organizations.

Managerial Summary: Enhancing entrepreneurial orienta-

tion (EO) is of major importance for established firms to stay

competitive in the market. This study sheds light on the

question how EO emerges within management teams of a

firm's decentralized units and specifically gives insights

All authors contributed equally to this research.

Received: 16 March 2017 Revised: 20 July 2020 Accepted: 4 August 2020 Published on: 2 September 2020

DOI: 10.1002/sej.1365

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and

reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2020 The Authors. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Strategic Management

Society.

Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal. 2020;14:683–710. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/sej 683

about how team design and team processes can foster the

EO of these units. We find that teams with specialized

experts who share a common meta-knowledge about who

knows what intheir team (i.e., teams witha strong transactive

memory system)engage in more team learning and participa-

tive decision-making and identify themselves more strongly

with their team, which consequently spurs unit EO. Our

results highlight that well-designed and well-functioning

management teams below the executive level can play an

important role in fostering entrepreneurship in multiunit

organizations.

KEYWORDS

entrepreneurial orientation, knowledge-based view, social

interdependence theory, team processes, transactive memory

systems

1|INTRODUCTION

Entrepreneurship depends on knowledge (Floyd & Wooldridge, 1999; Shane, 2000; Wiklund & Shepherd, 2003). To

engage in entrepreneurial orientation (EO), firms need to create new knowledge and, at the same time, combine and

integrate existing knowledge (De Clercq, Dimov, & Thongpapanl, 2013; Hayton, 2005). To be precise, knowledge

resides within the individuals and teams working in these firms (Covin & Slevin, 1991). The knowledge-based view

(Grant, 1996b) claims that organizations benefit from a broad and diverse knowledge base held by its members, and

entrepreneurship scholars have agreed that knowledge specialization, that is, teams composed of individuals special-

ized in diverse areas of expertise, could be a facilitator of entrepreneurial behavior (Alvarez & Busenitz, 2001;

Sciascia, Mazzola, & Chirico, 2013). However, possessing (knowledge) resources is not enough—the question of how

teams use these resources is at least as important (cf. Hansen, Perry, & Reese, 2004; Wales, Patel, Parida, &

Kreiser, 2013). In this regard, it is surprising that EO research has yet to examine how teams transform their special-

ized knowledge into entrepreneurial action.

We complement the knowledge-based view (Grant, 1996b) with insights from social interdependence theory

(Deutsch, 1949) to increase the understanding of how EO emerges from teams. We posit that teams with a strong

transactive memory system (TMS)—a shared system of specialized knowledge with a joint understanding of who

knows what (Lewis, 2003; Wegner, 1987)—can foster EO by eliciting a beneficial “domino effect”of positive team

interaction patterns (team learning, participative team decision-making) and positive team psychological processes

(team identification). In doing so, we add to the rare and limited research on the genesis of EO (Wales, Gupta, &

Mousa, 2013; Wiklund & Shepherd, 2003). Specifically, we address the two key questions (1) “where does EO

emerge?”and (2) “why does EO emerge?”

Considering the (1) where question, the picture is still incomplete regarding the loci of EO emergence. Prior

research has identified two main loci of EO emergence: the CEO level (e.g., Boling, Pieper, & Covin, 2015; Cao, Sim-

sek, & Jansen, 2015; Miller, 1983; Simsek, Heavey, & Veiga, 2010) and the top management team (TMT) level

(e.g., Cho & Hambrick, 2006; Escribá-Esteve, Sánchez-Peinado, & Sánchez-Peinado, 2009; Sciascia et al., 2013;

Zahra, 1993). The importance of CEOs and TMTs for shaping a firm's EO has been justified by the upper echelons

684 KOLLMANN ET AL.