The Bigger They are, the Harder They Fall: Linking Team Power to Conflict, Congruence and Collective Decision-Making Performance

Abstract

In this quasi-experimental, multi-method study, we compare the performance of high-power organizational teams to low-power organizational teams on a decision-making task. Team power is based on the control of resources that enables a team to affect others in the company. We find that low-power teams outperform high-power teams. This effect is fully explained by the higher levels of performance-detracting intragroup process conflict present in high-power teams. Results show that interpersonal power congruence, or the degree to which members agree on the power levels of the members within the team, ameliorates the relationship between team power and process conflict, such that when high-power teams agree on the relative power structure within their team, team power is less positively related to process conflict.