Interdependence between best team members and their teammates

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how, within a team, the value of their best member depends critically on the performance of the rest. Analysis of the interdependent team members complements the traditional focus of resource‐based‐view analyses of isolated resources.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used data from 584 National Basketball Association teams (30 teams collected over 21 seasons).

Findings

The authors find a positive relationship between best member performance and team performance that increases as the rest of the team members’ performance improves.

Practical implications

Having team members with a high individual performance does not imply that the team will have a competitive advantage over the rest. To gain this advantage, it is also necessary that the rest of the team members also show a high individual performance.

Originality/value

These results contribute to the team literature increasing our knowledge about the effect of complementary resources on gaining competitive advantage. Additionally, sports teams offer the possibility of using objective data to assess team members’ individual value within a team.

Citation

de la Torre‐Ruiz, J.M. and Aragón‐Correa, J.A. (2013), "Interdependence between best team members and their teammates", International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 34 No. 5, pp. 552-567. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJM-06-2013-0121