IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/ororsc/v21y2010i2p347-361.html

Power Asymmetry and Learning in Teams: The Moderating Role of Performance Feedback

Author

Listed:
  • Gerben S. Van der Vegt

    (Department of Human Resource Management and Organizational Behavior, University of Groningen, 9700 AV Groningen, The Netherlands)

  • Simon B. de Jong

    (Department of Human Resource Management and Organizational Behavior, University of Groningen, 9700 AV Groningen, The Netherlands)

  • J. Stuart Bunderson

    (John M. Olin School of Business, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130)

  • Eric Molleman

    (Department of Human Resource Management and Organizational Behavior, University of Groningen, 9700 AV Groningen, The Netherlands)

Abstract

Past research suggests that power asymmetry within teams can have a stifling effect on team learning and performance. We argue here that this effect is contingent on whether power advantages within a team are used to advance individual or collective interests. This study considers the moderating role of one factor that can influence the individual or collective orientation of team members---the type of performance feedback that a team receives. We propose that whereas individual feedback reinforces the negative effects of power asymmetry on team learning, group feedback fosters a collective orientation within a team that transforms power differences into a stimulus for team learning. Analysis of multisource, multimethod data obtained from 218 individuals in 46 teams provided support for these hypotheses. Results also suggested that team learning mediated the relationship between power asymmetry and team performance. These findings suggest that power asymmetry can be a resource for and not just an obstacle to team learning in power-asymmetric teams.

Suggested Citation

  • Gerben S. Van der Vegt & Simon B. de Jong & J. Stuart Bunderson & Eric Molleman, 2010. "Power Asymmetry and Learning in Teams: The Moderating Role of Performance Feedback," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(2), pages 347-361, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:21:y:2010:i:2:p:347-361
    DOI: 10.1287/orsc.1090.0452
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1090.0452
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/orsc.1090.0452?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Amy C. Edmondson, 2002. "The Local and Variegated Nature of Learning in Organizations: A Group-Level Perspective," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 13(2), pages 128-146, April.
    2. Patricia Pitcher & Anne D. Smith, 2001. "Top Management Team Heterogeneity: Personality, Power, and Proxies," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 12(1), pages 1-18, February.
    3. Goncalo, Jack A. & Duguid, Michelle M., 2008. "Hidden consequences of the group-serving bias: Causal attributions and the quality of group decision making," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 107(2), pages 219-233, November.
    4. Karen A. Bantel & Susan E. Jackson, 1989. "Top management and innovations in banking: Does the composition of the top team make a difference?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(S1), pages 107-124, June.
    5. Deborah Gladstein Ancona & David F. Caldwell, 1992. "Demography and Design: Predictors of New Product Team Performance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 3(3), pages 321-341, August.
    6. Lee, Fiona, 1997. "When the Going Gets Tough, Do the Tough Ask for Help? Help Seeking and Power Motivation in Organizations," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 72(3), pages 336-363, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. F. Pinar Acar, 2016. "The effects of top management team composition on SME export performance: an upper echelons perspective," Central European Journal of Operations Research, Springer;Slovak Society for Operations Research;Hungarian Operational Research Society;Czech Society for Operations Research;Österr. Gesellschaft für Operations Research (ÖGOR);Slovenian Society Informatika - Section for Operational Research;Croatian Operational Research Society, vol. 24(4), pages 833-852, December.
    2. Sahaym, Arvin & Cho, Sam Yul & Kim, Sang Kyun & Mousa, Fariss-Terry, 2016. "Mixed blessings: How top management team heterogeneity and governance structure influence the use of corporate venture capital by post-IPO firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(3), pages 1208-1218.
    3. Yucheng Ma & Changwei Pang & Haowen Chen & Nan Chi & Yuan Li, 2014. "Interdisciplinary Cooperation and Knowledge Creation Quality: A Perspective of Recombinatory Search," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(1), pages 115-126, January.
    4. J. Stuart Bunderson & Peter Boumgarden, 2010. "Structure and Learning in Self-Managed Teams: Why “Bureaucratic” Teams Can Be Better Learners," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(3), pages 609-624, June.
    5. J. Stuart Bunderson & Ray E. Reagans, 2011. "Power, Status, and Learning in Organizations," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(5), pages 1182-1194, October.
    6. Juan Pablo Diánez-González & Carmen Camelo-Ordaz, 2016. "How management team composition affects academic spin-offs’ entrepreneurial orientation: the mediating role of conflict," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 530-557, June.
    7. Stephanie Duchek & Sebastian Raetze & Ianina Scheuch, 2020. "The role of diversity in organizational resilience: a theoretical framework," Business Research, Springer;German Academic Association for Business Research, vol. 13(2), pages 387-423, July.
    8. M. Laura Frigotto & Alessandro Rossi, 2012. "Diversity and Communication in Teams: Improving Problem-Solving or Creating Confusion?," Group Decision and Negotiation, Springer, vol. 21(6), pages 791-820, November.
    9. Mohammadi, Ali & Broström, Anders & Franzoni, Chiara, 2015. "Work Force Composition and Innovation: How Diversity in Employees’ Ethnical and Disciplinary Backgrounds Facilitates Knowledge Re-combination," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 413, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.
    10. van Olffen, W. & Boone, C.A.J.J., 1997. "The confusing state of the art in top management composition studies: A theoretical and empirical review," Research Memorandum 011, Maastricht University, Netherlands Institute of Business Organization and Strategy Research (NIBOR).
    11. Ho‐Uk Lee & Jong‐Hun Park, 2008. "The Influence of Top Management Team International Exposure on International Alliance Formation," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(5), pages 961-981, July.
    12. Sze-Sze Wong, 2004. "Distal and Local Group Learning: Performance Trade-offs and Tensions," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 15(6), pages 645-656, December.
    13. Fumihiko Isada & Yuriko Isada, 2014. "An Empirical Study Of A Sustainable Strategy And Profitability In The Electrical-Manufacturing Industry," Economy & Business Journal, International Scientific Publications, Bulgaria, vol. 8(1), pages 282-295.
    14. Sonja Sperber & Christian Linder, 2018. "The impact of top management teams on firm innovativeness: a configurational analysis of demographic characteristics, leadership style and team power distribution," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 285-316, January.
    15. Rivas, Jose Luis, 2012. "Diversity & internationalization: The case of boards and TMT's," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 1-12.
    16. Sunkee Lee, 2019. "Learning-by-Moving: Can Reconfiguring Spatial Proximity Between Organizational Members Promote Individual-level Exploration?," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(3), pages 467-488, May.
    17. Choi, Hoon-Seok & Thompson, Leigh, 2005. "Old wine in a new bottle: Impact of membership change on group creativity," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 98(2), pages 121-132, November.
    18. Leslie A. Perlow & Jody Hoffer Gittell & Nancy Katz, 2004. "Contextualizing Patterns of Work Group Interaction: Toward a Nested Theory of Structuration," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 15(5), pages 520-536, October.
    19. Pierpaolo Parrotta & Dario Pozzoli & Mariola Pytlikova, 2014. "The nexus between labor diversity and firm’s innovation," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 27(2), pages 303-364, April.
    20. Tine Buyl & Christophe Boone & Walter Hendriks & Paul Matthyssens, 2011. "Top Management Team Functional Diversity and Firm Performance: The Moderating Role of CEO Characteristics," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1), pages 151-177, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:21:y:2010:i:2:p:347-361. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.