Transactive Memory Systems, Learning, and Learning Transfer
研究交互记忆系统如何帮助团队将先前学习应用到新任务中，并形成对问题领域的抽象理解，从而提升持续绩效。实证发现，拥有交互记忆系统且在同一领域完成过两项任务的团队更易形成抽象理解，但仅完成一项任务时效果不显著。
Knowledge embedded in a group’s structures and processes can be leveraged to create sustainable advantage for organizations. We propose that knowledge embedded with a transactive memory system (TMS) helps groups apply prior learning to new tasks and develop an abstract understanding of a problem domain, leading to sustained performance. We present a framework for understanding TMSs as learning systems that affect group learning and learning transfer, and we test the major outcomes of the framework in an empirical study. We found that groups with a prior TMS and experience with two tasks in the same domain were more likely to develop an abstract understanding of the principles relevant to the task domain—a critical factor for learning transfer in general. We did not, however, find strong support for our contention that a TMS facilitates learning transfer after experience with only a single task. Further examinations of our findings showed that the extent to which members maintained expertise across tasks influenced the degree of learning transfer, especially for groups whose members had previously developed a TMS with another group. Our findings show that a TMS has broader benefits beyond the task for which it first developed because a TMS affects members’ ability to apply prior learning and develop a collective, abstract understanding of the task domain. More generally, our study demonstrates that TMSs influence group learning and learning transfer. We discuss our study’s implications for practice and for TMS and group learning theories.