The Internal and External Networks of Knowledge-Intensive Teams

Abstract

Using a sample of 56 science research teams, the authors examined (a) the relationships between qualities of team internal and external networks and team performance and (b) the moderating impact of task routineness on these relationships. The authors argued that the mixed empirical results of past studies investigating the relationship between internal networks and performance may be due partly to variations in task routineness and partly to the presence of curvilinear relationships between network qualities and team performance. Using an objective measure of team performance, the results revealed support for both explanations. The authors found an inverted-U relationship between internal trust relationship strength and team performance and a positive linear relationship between external work relationship strength and team performance. Furthermore, task routineness moderated these relationships, as predicted. Future scholarship and practice may be advanced by attending to the boundary conditions under which strong internal and external team networks are likely to be beneficial to the performance of knowledge-intensive teams.