Team identification: a determining factor of performance

Purpose – This study seeks to explore why some teams realize performance gains and others do not. Team identification is proposed as an explanatory mechanism of performance. Design/methodology/approach – Data from two longitudinal studies with 42 teams (270 individuals) are examined using regression analysis. Study 1 relies on student teams, while Study 2 is based on two field samples of actual working teams. In both studies, team identification was captured prior to the objective performance measures. Findings – This study empirically provides evidence that team identification is linked to team performance across three settings. Research limitations/implications – Although the sample size is relatively small within each study, the implications are that team process variables such as identification matter when gauging performance across all three settings. Practical implications – It is critical that team‐oriented processes, such as identification, are promoted if managers hope to see performance gains within work teams. Just because a team is created, this does not guarantee that the members will operate as a collective entity to accomplish tasks. If the members of the team identify with one another, they are more likely to outperform individual‐oriented teams. Originality/value – There is little agreement regarding performance gains and teamwork. This study demonstrates that teams with identification are better performers across three settings, in which two are based on applied settings of actual intact work teams. This study is also valuable because it provides longitudinal data, given that identification is measured prior to performance.