Inter-team coordination, information elaboration, and performance in teams: The moderating effect of knowledge integration capability

• Inter-team coordination does not universally benefit team performance. • Information elaboration is the key to reap the benefits of inter-team coordination. • Knowledge integration capability is an important boundary condition. Organizational teams increasingly engage in inter-team coordination activities. Though past literature suggests that inter-team coordination benefits team performance, recent studies reveal that teams may in fact fail to reap such performance benefits. To investigate the boundary condition as well as the process underpinning the relationship between inter-team coordination and team performance, we draw on the knowledge integration model and develop a mediated moderation model. In particular, we propose that team information elaboration mediates the interaction effect of inter-team coordination and knowledge integration capability on team performance such that the indirect relationship is stronger for teams with a high knowledge integration capability. Two field survey studies support our hypothetical model. Based on these findings, we further discuss the theoretical and practical implications of this research.