Strong Ties and Team Interdependence: A Social Network Approach to Dyadic Team Effectiveness

Abstract

We adopt a social network perspective to examine the social underpinnings of intergroup effectiveness—the dyadic effectiveness with which pairs of teams perform collaboratively. We propose that the interplay of social network ties within and between teams predicts intergroup effectiveness differentially depending on levels of resource interdependence between teams. In support of our hypothesis, results from temporally separated, different-source data of 48 pairs of service and administration teams suggest that intrateam density and strong ties between teams interact to predict managerial intergroup effectiveness ratings positively for low, but negatively for high levels of resource interdependence. We discuss theoretical implications with respect to dyadic team effectiveness, the performance benefits of social network ties, and the design of team-based work.