Predicting top management approval and team performance in technology industry : Moderating effects of work exhaustion

Purpose To complement previous research on team performance, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the development of team performance and top management approval at the team level. In the proposed model, team performance and top management approval are influenced by the team leader’s charisma, teamwork exhaustion, and goal clarity via the full mediation of team planning. The effects of the leader’s charisma and goal clarity on team planning are moderated by teamwork exhaustion. Design/methodology/approach Empirical testing of this model based on hierarchical regression modeling, by investigating team personnel in high-tech firms, confirms the applicability of team planning among these firms’ work teams. Findings A team leader’s charisma and goal clarity positively relate to team planning, while teamwork exhaustion is not associated with team planning. Team planning further positively relates to team performance and top management approval, respectively. A team leader’s charisma negatively moderates the relationship between teamwork exhaustion and team planning, while goal clarity positively moderates the relationship between teamwork exhaustion and team planning. Originality/value While previous literature has focused in depth on team planning and its antecedents and outcomes, there still exists an important gap regarding potential moderation in the formation of team planning. This study provides some important findings that complement previous literature by examining three fresh exogenous determinants for explaining team planning, their interaction effects, and how they indirectly relate to team performance and top management approval via the full mediation of team planning.