The Influence of Communication Networks and Turnover on Transactive Memory Systems and Team Performance

In this dissertation, I investigate predictors and consequences of transactive memory system (TMS) development. A transactive memory system is a shared system for encoding, storing, and recalling who knows what within a group. Groups with well-developed transactive memory systems typically perform better than groups lacking such memory systems. I study how communication enhances the development of TMS and how turnover disrupts both TMS and its relationship to group performance. More specifically, I examine how communication networks affect the amount of communication, how the structure of the communication network affects the extent to which the group members share a strong identity as a group, and how both of these factors affect a group’s TMS. I also analyze how turnover disrupts the relationship between transactive memory systems and group performance. In addition, I examine how the communication network and turnover interact to affect group performance. I analyze these effects in three laboratory studies. The controlled setting of the experimental laboratory permits me to make causal inferences about the relationship of turnover and the communication network to group outcomes. Results promise to advance theory about transactive memory systems and communication networks.