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Stronger Than the Sum of Its Parts? The Performance Implications of Peer Control Combinations in Teams

Author

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  • Bart A. De Jong

    (Department of Management and Organization, VU University Amsterdam, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

  • Katinka M. Bijlsma-Frankema

    (Department of Organizational Psychology, University of Groningen, 9712 TS Groningen, The Netherlands)

  • Laura B. Cardinal

    (C. T. Bauer College of Business, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77204)

Abstract

Integrating theorizing on situational strength and complementarity with control theory, we investigate the mediating processes that transmit peer control combination effects to team performance. We argue that two critical peer control mechanisms—norm strength and peer pressure—complement each other such that their joint impact on team members becomes stronger than the sum of their parts. In a multiple mediator model, we identify effort and trust as two distinct mediating processes that explain the relationship between peer control combinations and team performance. Multisource, multiwave data from 41 self-managing healthcare teams largely support our model. The pattern of mediation was more complex than we anticipated, revealing an indirect effect of peer controls on effort via trust. Together, our findings offer insight into how controls complement each other and the processes through which they do so.

Suggested Citation

  • Bart A. De Jong & Katinka M. Bijlsma-Frankema & Laura B. Cardinal, 2014. "Stronger Than the Sum of Its Parts? The Performance Implications of Peer Control Combinations in Teams," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(6), pages 1703-1721, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:25:y:2014:i:6:p:1703-1721
    DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2014.0926
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    12. Lieberman, Alicea & Duke, Kristen E. & Amir, On, 2019. "How incentive framing can harness the power of social norms," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 118-131.
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    14. Nullmeier, Fabian & Wynstra, Finn & van der Valk, Wendy, 2019. "Mitigating shirking: Contracting performance in buyer-initiated service triads," Other publications TiSEM cebcb590-5a85-4906-b8ec-1, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    15. Christoph Hauser & Urban Perkmann & Sibylle Puntscher & Janette Walde & Gottfried Tappeiner, 2016. "Trust Works! Sources and Effects of Social Capital in the Workplace," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 128(2), pages 589-608, September.
    16. Romeike, Philipp Daniel & Fleschhut, Manuel & Nienaber, Ann-Marie & Schewe, Gerhard, 2017. "Development and validation of the Legitimate Monitoring and Control Questionnaire (LMCQ)," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 46-59.
    17. Yang, Feifei & Shinkle, George A. & Goudsmit, Mirjam, 2022. "The efficacy of organizational control interactions: External environmental uncertainty as a critical contingency," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 855-868.
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    19. Jacobo Gomez‐Conde & Ernesto Lopez‐Valeiras & Ricardo Malagueño & José Carlos Tiomatsu Oyadomari, 2022. "Quality of performance metrics, informal peer monitoring and goal commitment," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(3), pages 4041-4077, September.

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