Preference for teamwork, personal interaction and communities of practice: does co-worker support matter?

Abstract

PurposeCollaboration and preference for teamwork play a fundamental role in strengthening practical completion of team tasks. An organizational culture should facilitate learning systems where knowledge creation occurs through socialization. The purpose of this study is to develop a moderated mediation model, investigating the conditional indirect effect of co-worker support on the relationship between preference for teamwork and communities of practice.Design/methodology/approachQuestionnaire survey was conducted via Google Forms to collect data from 210 employees working in the private and public sector in India. Hayes PROCESS macro models were used for analyzing the mediation of personal interaction and moderation of co-worker support.FindingsThis study showed evidence regarding the mediating role of personal interaction on the relationship between preference for teamwork and communities of practice. Co-worker support moderated the relationship between personal interaction and communities of practice. It also moderated the conditional indirect effect.Practical implicationsThe results approve the substantial role of preference for teamwork in influencing personal interaction and communities of practice. The mediating role of personal interaction on preference for teamwork and communities of practice can lead to creation and sustenance of communities of practice. Furthermore, the moderating role of co-worker support as a conditional indirect effect shows that social support and exchange can lead to social learning.Originality/valueTheoretical explanations and analytical approaches provide insights into the relationship between the preference for teamwork and communities of practice through a conditional indirect effect, a one of its kind of a study.