Overcoming Challenges in Team Absorption of External Information: A Conceptualization and Examination of Intra-Team External Information

In this ever-changing and demanding era, the success of organizations and their teams increasingly relies on their ability to effectively monitor and make sense of the external environment. This includes their capability to absorb and utilize external information, be it emerging techniques, novel ideas, valuable feedback, or new knowledge. Although research on how teams acquire external information is well-established, the understanding of what ensures that they truly absorb and internalize such information remains scant. To address this problem, this dissertation conceptualizes and studies a critical team internal process for absorbing external information—intra-team external information sharing— defined as the act of team members sharing work-related information obtained from people outside the team with one another. Employing both qualitative and quantitative analysis, at both the individual and the team level, this dissertation investigates the antecedents and consequences of intra-team external information sharing.

Results suggest that team members’ decisions to pass on their externally acquired information to the team are determined by (a) their positive attitudes towards the information—reflected in perceived information newness, uniqueness, credibility, and relevance—which are in turn shaped by the characteristics of the external information and external contacts, and (b) structural redundancy in team members’ connections with external contacts. Moreover, intra-team external information sharing enhances team creativity. By integrating insights from research on team social networks, boundary spanning, absorptive capacity, information processing, and creativity, this dissertation provides a foundation for future research to explore team external information absorption in a more comprehensive and nuanced manner.