Social Capital, Team Efficacy and Team Potency: The Mediating Role of Team Learning Behaviors.

Purpose – Drawing on social capital theory and self‐identification theory, this study aims to examine the associations of two indicators of social capital, personal networks and deep‐level similarity, with team capability measures of team efficacy and team potency. The central focus of the study is to be the hypothesized mediating role of team learning behaviors.Design/methodology/approach – Hypotheses were tested using questionnaire data obtained from 221 teachers working in 33 teams and data were analyzed using multilevel analyses.Findings – Consistent with the hypotheses, the results supported the contention that team learning behaviors mediate the relationship between different types of social capital and team efficacy and team potency. Specifically, it was found that, in highly (deep‐level) similar teams, the level of team learning behaviors is higher than in diverse teams, and this is hardly dependent on the extent of social capital based on personal networks. For diverse teams (i.e. teams scoring l...

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