Examining the impact of team trust on team effectiveness: An exploration of a new triaxiale model

This study examines team performance via a triaxial model of trust in the context of interactive professional sports: (Facet/Axis 1) trust between team members (Facet/Axis 2) trust between the team and their coach, and (Facet/Axis 3) trust in team management. In addition, the model proposes that variables such as cohesion, leadership, and organizational policies mediates (i.e. have an indirect effect) on the relationships between trust and performance. A host of control variables extrapolated from the literature on team performance is also used as part of the overall model. In spite of the growing interest in management literature on organisational trust and its influence on performance, very few empirical studies have analysed it from the team perspective. In the first step of the analysis, all properties of the proposed multi-item variables l have been tested for their psychometric qualities at the individual level (n= 690), and results are very satisfactory (i.e. alpha¿s >.70). In the second step, hypotheses, were tested at the team level (n= 59) using 4 distinct professional sport leagues in Spain. The research includes both cross-sectional and quasi-longitudinal design. Analyses combined a mix of bivariate and multivariate hierarchical regression procedures. Findings reveal that some facets (axis) of trust have both a direct and indirect effect on a team?s performance. The relationship between trust and its dynamic with other variables considered in this study suggests that its three axes are important for the functioning of groups in organisations, and contribute clearly, albeit indirectly, to their performance. One implication of these results is that trust is not just a determinant but also a product of team performance, and must be seen both as a potential outcome to be achieved as well as a determinant or prerequisite for organisational results. Although the importance of trust for the functioning of teams in the organisation is confirmed, these results do not allow concluding whether it does so in a determinant manner. The full complexity of the relationships between trust and team performance is revealed, and implications to managing teams in contexts other than sport teams is discussed.