Innovative Entrepreneurial Teams: The Give and Take of Trust and Conflict

Entrepreneurship research lacks empirical evidence about interactions between entrepreneurial team members. This paper examines the role of trust (cognitive and affective) and conflict (task and relationship) on team performance (effectiveness and efficiency) of innovative entrepreneurial teams. Data originated from 88 incubator-based entrepreneurial teams in Austria. Results indicate that cognitive trust is the cornerstone of innovative entrepreneurial team performance. To maximize efficiency, such teams would rely on high cognitive trust and low task conflict. Nonetheless, the guidelines for being effective centre around high cognitive trust coupled with low task and relationship conflict.