Subject coordinators as boundary managers: The impact on team learning and organizational outcomes

Abstract

The present research examines the functioning of subject coordinators as boundary managers. According to this approach, effective team leaders move back and forth across the team boundary, by means of internal activities, which focus on internal team processes, and external activities, which focus on connecting the team with the external environment in which it operates. The research model suggests that internal and external boundary management activities will promote team learning, which in turn will advance team outcomes (innovation and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB)) as well as organizational outcomes (academic achievements of students). Eighty-three subject coordinators and 260 teachers from elementary and junior high schools were studied. In general, structural equation modeling supported the mediating role of team learning in the relationship between boundary management and outcomes. The findings revealed positive relationships between internal and external activities and team learning, as well as between team learning and innovation and OCB. No significant relation was found between team learning and academic achievements. Implications, limitations, and future research directions pertaining to the boundary-related roles of subject coordinators are discussed.