The Impact of Intra-Team and Inter-Team Social Ties on Team Innovativeness and Performance:On the Basis of IT Support

Social ties play an important role in today’s competitive world. The primary objective of this study is to explore the impact of intra- and inter-social ties on team innovativeness and performance. Through an empirical model of 97 teams in six companies, this study attempts to (i) examine how intra- and inter-social ties affect team innovativeness and team performance; and (ii) investigate how the support for information technology facilitates social ties. Our team-based analysis reveals that strong intra-bonds among members improve team innovativeness and enhance team performance. Inter-linkages among teams also lead to team performance through innovativeness, but they are not directly associated with performance. IT support also considerably enhances social ties.