The effect of team empowerment on team performance: A cross-cultural perspective on the mediating roles of knowledge sharing and intra-group conflict

Abstract

Purpose

Based on extant literature on empowerment and team management, this paper aims to examine the effect of power distance and collectivism on the relationship between empowerment and team performance through the mechanisms of knowledge sharing and intra-group conflict.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper conceptualizes a model depicting the relationship between team empowerment and team performance across cultures.

Findings

The authors argue that team empowerment can increase both knowledge sharing and intra-group conflict in working teams. Knowledge sharing facilitates team performance, while intra-group conflict impairs team performance in the long run. Team empowerment yields different team performance across cultures due to the respective moderating effects of power distance and collectivism.

Originality/value

This paper explicates the moderating roles of power distance and collectivism on the relationship between empowerment, knowledge sharing, intra-group conflict and team performance. The authors suggest that the effectiveness of team empowerment is contingent on the cultural context that the team operates in.

Citation

Jiang, X., Flores, H.R., Leelawong, R. and Manz, C.C. (2016), "The effect of team empowerment on team performance: A cross-cultural perspective on the mediating roles of knowledge sharing and intra-group conflict", International Journal of Conflict Management, Vol. 27 No. 1, pp. 62-87. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCMA-07-2014-0048