Transactive memory systems and team performance: the mediating role of routines

Abstract Transactive memory systems (TMSs) provide a mechanism that allows teams and complex organizations to perform complex tasks by integrating differentiated roles. In large, stable organizations, the operation of TMSs is well understood, but in small, dynamic settings, it is not. Using a repeated measures design, we studied 24 teams performing a crisis management task that required coordinated action among three distinct roles. Because the roles are interdependent, we theorized that team members’ action patterns as part of a routine will have a mediating effect of the TMS on team performance. We found that the TMS had no direct effect on team performance but had a significant indirect effect through its effect on patterns of interaction between roles. Further, we found that patterns of action involving a single role did not affect performance. Our findings show that TMSs influence the capacity of an organization to coordinate routines that involve multiple, interdependent roles even in highly dynamic situations.