Transactive Memory System and Human Resource Development: A Systematic Review (2000–2025)

Developmental Inputs

Team-skills training & learning . Extant research highlights the critical role of team-skills training as an HRD intervention in fostering the development of TMS. Foundational work by Moreland and Myaskovsky (2000) demonstrates that structured team training facilitates TMS formation by enabling members to differentiate and recognize one another’s domains of expertise. Their experimental evidence shows that teams receiving coordinated training develop stronger transactive memory structures and perform more effectively than untrained teams, thereby establishing training as a central mechanism in TMS development. Subsequent research further reinforces this view, indicating that teams exposed to structured training exhibit more advanced TMS compared to those without such interventions. Training enhances members’ shared understanding of expertise domains and strengthens their ability to leverage collective knowledge during task execution (Prichard & Ashleigh, 2007). Closely aligned with training, team learning also represents a pivotal factor in TMS development. As an ongoing process throughout the team lifecycle, team learning encompasses knowledge- and communication-based behaviors that support the creation, storage, and retrieval of knowledge at the team level (Oertel & Antoni, 2015). Empirical evidence suggests that such learning behaviors are positively associated with the observable manifestations of TMS (Veestraeten et al., 2014). For instance, specialization—wherein team members develop an awareness of “who knows what” reflects the differentiation of expertise within the team. This cognitive mapping subsequently facilitates coordination, enabling team members to align tasks, responsibilities, and information flows more efficiently. Overall, team-skills training and team learning behaviors jointly reinforce the emergence and evolution of TMS, underscoring the central role of HRD interventions in developing distributed expertise systems that enhance collaboration and performance.

Concept mapping . Concept mapping has been identified as an effective intervention for sustaining the benefits of training. Evidence suggests that when teams construct concept maps following individual training and team-based decision-making tasks, they are better able to consolidate and apply acquired knowledge (Santos et al., 2021). This insight is particularly salient given the growing recognition that training interventions alone may be insufficient to generate long-term performance improvements. Instead, training may need to be complemented by additional team development interventions to reinforce learning outcomes. Concept mapping provides such a complementary mechanism by enabling teams to collectively externalize, organize, and integrate their knowledge structures. Consequently, teams that engage in concept mapping following training are more likely to strengthen their shared understanding and sustain cognitive alignment over time.

Authentic and knowledge-oriented leadership . Authentic leadership has been identified as an effective approach for fostering TMS, particularly in smaller teams where closer interaction enhances awareness of individual expertise and strengthens coordination (Asim Shahzad et al., 2022). By adopting developmental strategies such as regular training and feedback sessions, authentic leaders enhance employees’ emotional intelligence, which in turn, supports organizational innovation capability. Knowledge diversity within organizations can sometimes generate dysfunctional social dynamics; however, when guided by effective leadership, it can also yield significant benefits through improved teamwork processes and stronger TMS (Donate et al., 2023). In this regard, communication barriers must be addressed early, as the development of TMS requires open dialogue and shared understanding, facilitated through increased frequency of team meetings and training interactions.

Relational Inputs

Motivation . It is a critical determinant in fostering the development of TMS and facilitating internal knowledge transfer within teams. It contributes to reducing interpersonal conflict while simultaneously enhancing coordination, trust, and collective efficacy among team members (Sáiz-Pardo et al., 2021). Motivated individuals are more likely to engage in open communication and mutual learning, strengthening the team’s capacity to effectively exchange and integrate knowledge. The process of sharing experiences generates common knowledge that helps overcome barriers and fosters a greater willingness to understand the perspectives and actions of others. This shared understanding enhances team cohesion and creates conditions under which tasks can be performed more efficiently, ultimately advancing team learning.

Trust & psychological safety . Research identifies trust and psychological safety as critical enablers of TMS development. Trust is a psychological state that emerges from individuals’ interactions shaped by their values, attitudes, cognitive perspectives, and emotional experiences. It enables team members to establish credibility and coordinate effectively, supporting the formation of work teams that appropriately distribute responsibilities and cultivate distinct domains of knowledge (Cabeza-Pullés et al., 2018). Such trust-based integration strengthens both credibility and coordination within teams, enhancing their collective capacity to manage interdependent tasks. Psychological safety similarly exerts a positive influence on team learning behaviors, as it reflects a shared belief that the team provides a safe environment for interpersonal risk-taking (Veestraeten et al., 2014). This environment not only facilitates collective learning processes but also reinforces the broader notion of trust. In particular, interpersonal trust becomes indispensable when tasks require high levels of collaboration, serving as a foundational condition for effective teamwork and sustained team performance.

Collective mind and network ties . Collective mind (CM) and network ties (NT) are important contributors to TMS. CM, reflecting cohesion and interconnectedness among team members, suggests that prior social connections facilitate knowledge exchange within groups (Cabeza-Pullés et al., 2018). By embedding knowledge within members through recurrent interactions, CM enhances individuals’ capacity to coordinate, share, and recombine knowledge effectively. This process not only strengthens the internal cognitive capabilities of group members but also fosters an environment of trust and mutual understanding, both of which are critical for learning and development in organizational settings. Similarly, NT strengthens TMS by creating relational structures through which individuals feel secure, supported, and willing to share knowledge. By fostering communication and reinforcing social bonds, NT expands learning opportunities and facilitates access to new knowledge resources (Cabeza-Pullés et al., 2018). From an HRD perspective, both CM and NT function as developmental mechanisms that build collective learning capacity, strengthen interpersonal trust, and cultivate the social infrastructure necessary for sustained knowledge exchange and organizational effectiveness.

Individual Level

Absorptive capacity . Absorptive capacity refers to the ability to recognize the value of new external knowledge, assimilate it, and subsequently transform and apply it to achieve desired outcomes. Within the HRD context, absorptive capacity is not only an organizational resource but also a developmental pathway that connects individual learning to collective knowledge creation. TMS plays an important role in enhancing absorptive capacity by facilitating the classification and assimilation of external knowledge and by enabling its efficient transformation and utilization through coordinated interactions among team members (Ali et al., 2020). Evidence suggests that TMS exerts a stronger influence on potential absorptive capacity, reflecting the ability to acquire and assimilate knowledge, than on realized absorptive capacity, which relates to transforming and exploiting knowledge.

Innovative behaviors and creative self-efficacy . TMS is closely linked to the development of innovative behavior and creative self-efficacy at both the individual and team levels. Organizations and team leaders can strengthen TMS by fostering supportive environments that encourage constructive interaction, where team members feel free to share ideas, express their abilities, and exchange knowledge without fear of criticism (Fan et al., 2016). The greater the ease with which individuals can identify “who knows what,” the more effectively skills and resources can be mobilized, leading to faster problem-solving and enhanced innovative outcomes. Collaborative learning further reinforces this process by embedding innovation-oriented competencies within teams while simultaneously strengthening individuals’ confidence in performing creative tasks. Importantly, creative self-efficacy not only facilitates individual innovation but also enhances group-level innovative capacity (Fan et al., 2016), suggesting that it should be considered in team formation and development processes.

Team Level

Team learning and participative decision making . TMS is regarded as a vital mechanism for advancing team learning. By cultivating a shared mindset, strengthening social interaction, and enabling knowledge exchange, TMS creates the cognitive and relational infrastructure necessary for collective learning processes (Li & Huang, 2013). Building credibility among members fosters trust and motivation, which in turn encourages engagement in both exploitative and exploratory learning that supports individual growth and organizational development. Further, practices such as incorporating developmental feedback into performance evaluations and designing training aligned with individual strengths are crucial for nurturing knowledge specialization and enhancing TMS (Chiang et al., 2014). Strong TMS structures also reinforce positive team dynamics, including collaborative learning and participative decision-making, thereby improving collective performance. Moreover, teams with well-developed TMS demonstrate greater adaptability and responsiveness in addressing the complexities and uncertainties inherent in dynamic work environments (Kollmann et al., 2020). Training interventions that equip members with specialized expertise and techniques for effective discussion and decision-making further extend these benefits, fostering stronger team capability and sustained organizational learning.

Team sensemaking . Team sensemaking refers to the collective process through which team members interpret, share, and integrate information to build a common understanding that guides coordinated action. TMS supports this process by enabling members to access and align diverse expertise (Talat et al., 2022). To sustain these benefits, leaders should minimize frequent disruptions to team composition, such as constant member rotation, which can weaken established cognitive structures. Furthermore, in contexts of high task conflict, fostering reward interdependence helps ensure that disagreements remain constructive, thereby supporting effective team sensemaking.

Team engagement . The development of team cognition (TMS) is fundamental to effective team functioning (Guchait, 2016). While many organizations primarily emphasize technical or task-related training, cultivating teamwork skills is equally important. Evidence suggests that interventions such as team interaction training and self-correction training contribute significantly to the development of shared cognitive structures within teams. Accordingly, organizations leverage HRD tools and leadership initiatives to strengthen team cognition and promote collective engagement.

Improvisation . Continuous enhancement of team members’ professional capabilities is essential, and this can be achieved through targeted training and structured learning opportunities. TMS plays a central role in this developmental process by strengthening credibility among members, facilitating the coordination of internal and external resources, and supporting adaptive responses such as improvisation that improve performance outcomes (Hu et al., 2023). Training initiatives that emphasize interpersonal knowledge transfer enable members to better recognize “who knows what” and “who does what” within the team. This shared meta-knowledge forms a valuable foundation for collaboration, knowledge integration, and sustained team effectiveness.

Organization Level

Organizational shared knowledge . The intensive use of learning mechanisms contributes not only to improved performance outcomes but also to the activation of cognitive processes that generate greater shared knowledge (Ellis et al., 2012). Organizations that prioritize structured learning practices create conditions for enhanced knowledge sharing and the alignment of employees’ mental models, strengthening collective understanding and collaboration. The effectiveness of TMS in driving performance is largely attributed to the progressive specialization of individual expertise, which is supported by collective awareness of “who knows what” (Anderson & Lewis, 2014). Through this cognitive process, collective learning enables employees to draw on combined knowledge resources, fostering ongoing development and improving overall team effectiveness (Wang et al., 2018).

Innovation capability . Leadership plays a pivotal role in advancing TMS by implementing innovative strategies and designing training initiatives that foster employees’ emotional intelligence, ultimately enhancing organizational innovation capability (Asim Shahzad et al., 2022). As a critical driver of TMS, leadership also contributes to the broader development of organizational innovation capacity (Donate et al., 2023). By promoting collective learning approaches, leaders can establish decision-making routines that integrate diverse perspectives and expertise. Training practices aligned with this vision further enhance employees’ motivation to acquire new knowledge, strengthening both TMS and organizational learning (Chen & Liu, 2018).

Entrepreneurial orientation . Groups with a well-developed TMS benefit from positive interaction patterns, including enhanced collective learning and participative decision-making. Strong TMS structures also enable teams to respond rapidly and adaptively to the complexities of uncertain environments, particularly in entrepreneurial settings (Kollmann et al., 2020). This advantage stems from members’ ability to draw on one another’s expertise, integrate diverse knowledge resources, and generate novel connections that support entrepreneurial processes. From an HRD perspective, training interventions that develop specialized expertise and equip members with effective discussion and decision-making skills further strengthen these dynamics, ultimately enhancing group effectiveness.

Moderating Variables

The study sample identified a variety of moderators that influence the relationship between TMS and various outcomes. For example, project complexity was found to significantly moderate the relationship between TMS and software quality, strengthening its impact on flexibility and responsiveness, but not on operational efficiency (Açıkgöz et al., 2014). This highlights the role of rational information processing in enabling teams to interpret novel situations and perform effectively in dynamic contexts. Similarly, environmental turbulence was found to enhance the impact of TMS on team learning under moderate conditions by facilitating the integration of diverse knowledge resources (Akgun et al., 2006). However, under highly turbulent conditions, TMS may hinder team learning by limiting adaptability and the team’s information-processing capacity. Moreover, during task conflict, teams with high reward interdependence demonstrate stronger sensemaking, as shared incentives promote cooperation, discourage knowledge hoarding, and facilitate the effective use of collective expertise to navigate ambiguity (Talat et al., 2022).

The intensity of market competition strengthens the indirect effect of improvisation in linking TMS observable manifestations, such as specialization, credibility, and coordination, to entrepreneurial performance. However, market competition does not significantly moderate the indirect effect of improvisation between TMS coordination and entrepreneurial performance (Hu et al., 2023). In highly competitive environments, TMS expertise and credibility gain greater value, as improvisation and knowledge sharing facilitate rapid responses that enhance entrepreneurial performance. The use of social media strengthens the relationship between TMS and shared leadership, emphasizing the need for training opportunities and organizational support for the adoption of social technologies (Ali et al., 2021). Moreover, team goal orientation moderates the link between shared leadership and innovation ambidexterity, with TMS showing stronger associations with innovation ambidexterity when leaders emphasize learning or performance goal orientation (Chen & Liu, 2018). Leaders can therefore reinforce these dynamics through training and incentive systems that promote continuous learning and development.