Social Network Ties, Transactive Memory, and Performance in Groups

Abstract

In a longitudinal quasi-field setting, we develop and test a compensatory process model of social network closure over time on the development of a transactive memory system (TMS) in groups. Although a great deal of research examines the effects of closure on organizational outcomes, that research does not describe the microprocesses that explain when, and under what conditions, closure is beneficial or detrimental. Results from our analysis of the microprocesses associated with TMSs revealed a negative direct effect of closure over time on TMS development and a simultaneous positive indirect effect of closure over time on TMS development driven by a transitive triadic social network structure. It is important to note that the mediating effect of the number of transitive triads on the relationship between closure and a TMS was predictive of subsequent group performance. Results from our study suggest that closure may be a double-edged sword and that the microprocesses associated with TMS development can explain closure’s disparate performance consequences.