Dancing with the stars: Benefits of a star employee's temporary absence for organizational performance
Description
While prior research has primarily focused on stars as individual contributors, we examine organizational contexts in which stars work closely with non-star team members. We argue that, in such settings, building effective teamwork around a star involves learning under conditions of complexity. To simplify this process, organizations tend to prioritize interactions involving the star. However, this simplification can lead to organizational myopia. We propose that a star’s temporary absence helps organizations overcome such myopia by triggering a search for new routines. Upon the star’s return, organizations may combine these newly developed routines with pre-existing ones, thereby enhancing teamwork and overall performance. To test this argument, we exploit injuries to star players in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as an exogenous shock. Our findings indicate that, on average, teams perform better after a star’s return than they did before the absence.
Copyright Date
January 2016
Publication Date
1-1-2016
Keywords
Human capital, Organizational learning, Routines, Organizational performance, Organizational adaptation
Conference
Strategic Management Society Annual Conference, 17-20, September, 2016, Berlin, Germany
