Power Game: Power Dispersion and Congruence in Top Management Teams

Social hierarchy has been receiving increasing attention in multiple disciplines. This conceptual study shows how dynamics and characteristics of TMTs are different from those of general teams in the perspective of social hierarchy and how the social hierarchy in TMTs influences work-related consequences of TMTs. Based on the integration of two research streams, including power and justice, this study proposes that TMTs are more vulnerable to power dispersion than general teams and that highly dispersed power within TMTs influences teamwork quality negatively through members’ shared perception of how fairly team members treat one another. In addition, we argue that perfect power congruence among TMT members is less common than typically expected, and that low power congruence also hampers teamwork quality through team justice climate. In this study, we review the previous literature, develop several propositions, and discuss theoretical contributions, some limitations, and the direction of future research.