This study explores the impact of the mismatch between two sources of power,
ownership and status, on the effectiveness of interorganizational relations. We characterize
three types of dyadic ownership-status relationships and examine their relative
mixes at the group level: (1) power source match (A’s ownership and status are
both higher than those of B); (2) ownership-dominated power source mismatch (A’s
ownership advantage over B is greater than B’s status advantage over A); and (3)
status-dominated power source mismatch (A’s ownership advantage over B is less than
B’s status advantage over A). We found that power source match enhanced the effectiveness
of venture capital (VC) syndication, and that ownership-dominated power
source mismatch strengthened the positive effect of power source match because the
syndicate could maintain legitimate ownership order and benefit from diverse inputs.
By contrast, status-dominated power source mismatch weakened the positive effect of
power source match, because it may have created disorderly interaction. Moreover,
familiarity between participating VC firms diminished the negative moderating effect
of status-dominated mismatch, because mutual trust helped organize group interaction,
and entrepreneurial performance fulfilled a similar function, as the autonomy of
entrepreneurs from the VC syndicate buffered turbulences caused by interaction problems
among VC investors.