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The main purpose of the present research was to analyze the relationship between team psychological capital and innovation, considering team learning as a mediating variable. A field survey was carried out, which included 124 work teams belonging to organizations from different sectors of activity. Hypotheses were tested through PROCESS. Results supported a direct positive relationship between team psychological capital and team innovation and an indirect influence of team psychological capital on team innovation, through team learning. The findings of this study highlight the role of team learning as an intervening process between team psychological capital and team innovation. Accordingly, managers should seek to develop team psychological capital and learning behaviors among their teams to promote innovation.

This paper examines team learning behaviors within a nonlinear dynamical system (NDS) perspective. The present research is based on a sample of 36 project workgroups, where data were collected at two moments of their life cycle, with visual analogue scales. Using both the least squares method and maximum likelihood, it proposes a cusp catastrophe model for explaining team learning. The cusp model is superior to its linear alternatives and implements team culture as the asymmetry variable and team potency as bifurcation. The findings of cusp structure in the data support the existence of discontinuous shifts in learning behavior and furthermore a proposition that the punctuated equilibrium model (PEM) might be a reasonable model for describing group functioning, since it encompasses such sudden changes between distinct stages (attractors). A discussion on small group research is also provided by highlighting the nonlinear dynamics of team processes, along with further implications for research and practice.