The role of positive affect in virtual collaboration: a transactive memory system perspective

Abstract

Creative performance has been regarded as the key to the success of an organization in recent years, and is considered essential for the survival of an organization. Organizations must find and develop creative solutions to deal with a variety of business issues. How can organizations become more creative? To develop creativity, organizations must make it easier to connect the knowledge and perspectives of its various members, who may be scattered around the world, by developing a virtual team. Drawing from the transactive memory systems (TMS), which include expertise location, credibility, and coordination, this study investigates how the positive affect of team members influences the development of creative performance during virtual collaboration where face-to-face team activities are limited. The proposed structured model was empirically tested with cross-sectional data from 322 individuals. Results indicated that the positive affect of team members was found to moderate the relationship between TMS and creativity. Through this study, we expect to provide an understanding of the mechanisms involved in developing creativity among team members in a virtual work environment. ▸Keyword : Virtual team, Transactive memory systems, Creativity, Positive affect I . In t r o duct i o n