ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Organizational Psychology
Managing Ex-ante Power Asymmetry for Ex-post Multi-party Teamwork Quality
Provisionally accepted
- Shanghai University, Shanghai, China
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This study examines how ex-ante power asymmetry influences teamwork quality in specialist-led complex projects, where effective collaboration is essential for project performance. Grounded in power-dependence and agency theory, a conceptual model linking power asymmetry and information disparity to project network structures and teamwork quality is developed. Using survey data from 236 projects and structural equation modelling, how information disparity embedded in asymmetric power relations shapes network density and concentration is analyzed. The results show that information disparity increases both network density and concentration, but with divergent effects on teamwork quality. Dense networks facilitate communication and coordination and are positively associated with teamwork quality, whereas highly concentrated networks reinforce leader dominance and are negatively associated with teamwork quality. These findings reveal two opposing structural pathways through which power asymmetry affects collaborative performance. The study advances project governance and teamwork research by explicating how power structures operate through network configurations to shape teamwork outcomes and underscores the importance of managing power asymmetry at the pre-contract stage to promote high-quality collaboration in complex projects.
Keywords: Information disparity, Inter-organizational collaboration, network structure, Power asymmetry, Teamwork quality
Received: 07 Dec 2025; Accepted: 05 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 ZHU, Ding and Gong. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yi Ding
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