Abstract
This article examines the mechanisms that influence team-level performance. It investigates psychological safety, a shared belief that the team is safe for interpersonal risk taking and a causal model mediated by learning behavior and efficacy. This model hypothesizes that psychological safety and efficacy are related, which have been believed to be same-dimension constructs. It also explains the process of how learning behavior affects the team’s efficacy. In a study of 104 field sales and service teams in South Korea, psychological safety did not directly affect team effectiveness. However, when mediated by learning behavior and efficacy, a full-mediation effect was found. The results show (i) that psychological safety is the engine of performance, not the fuel, and (ii) how individuals contribute to group performance under a psychologically safe climate, enhancing team processes. Based on the findings, this article suggests theoretical and methodological implications for future research to maximize teams’ effectiveness.
Highlights
Teams play a crucial role in highly effective organizations
The findings argue that psychological safety is the most critical factor and a prerequisite to enabling the other four elements
There is a possibility of common method bias (CMB) when measuring constructs in the same survey
Summary
Teams play a crucial role in highly effective organizations. Teams perform better than individuals (Glassop, 2002), becoming sources for firms’ sustainable competitive advantage. The knowledge gained by teams contributes to performance on an organizational level (Edmondson, 2012). There is a growing concern about how to improve the performance of teams in organizations. A large body of literature has focused on individual motivation over decades, research to advance the understanding of team motivation processes is insufficient (Kozlowski and Bell, 2003; Chen and Kanfer, 2006). Organizations are gradually recognizing the value of psychological assets, the importance of synergy among individuals and groups for innovation and growth in highly competitive markets (Donaldson et al, 2011)
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