Resource leverage, resource depletion: A multilevel perspective on multiple team membership

Area of Science:

• Organizational Behavior
• Human Resource Management
• Psychology

Background:

• Multiple team membership (MTM) presents complex challenges for organizations.
• The multilevel nature of MTM requires further research attention.
• Existing research has not fully explored the interplay between individual and firm-level MTM.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the antecedents and productivity consequences of firm MTM.
• To examine the synergistic effects of individual and firm MTM on employee emotional exhaustion.
• To develop a resource-based framework for understanding MTM.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a sample of 19,803 employees from 145 German organizations.
• Employed multilevel analysis to examine the relationships between MTM and productivity/well-being.
• Developed and tested a resource-based framework for firm MTM.

Main Results:

• MTM is more common in knowledge-intensive and understaffed firms.
• Firm MTM shows an inverted U-shaped relationship with firm productivity.
• Individual and firm MTM interact to influence emotional exhaustion, with higher firm MTM exacerbating the negative effects of individual MTM.

Conclusions:

• MTM offers potential for firm-level productivity gains.
• High MTM can negatively impact employee well-being and increase emotional exhaustion.
• Organizations must balance the benefits of MTM with potential employee costs.