Interdependence between best team members and their teammates

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.