Organizational asymmetry and value co-creation in large interorganizational projects: a value network analysis

Purpose Whereas conventional views emphasize symmetry in dyadic buyer–supplier relationships, emerging research suggests that advantage asymmetry may strengthen value co-creation (VCC) in multi-actor project networks. Our study examines whether and how organizational asymmetries derived from knowledge complementarity facilitate VCC in large interorganizational projects (LIPs), where multiple organizations need to integrate heterogeneous knowledge and coordinate across interorganizational boundaries. To address this question, we develop multidimensional indicators to evaluate organizational asymmetry and identify the scenarios through which asymmetry influences VCC. Design/methodology/approach Our study adopts a value network analysis approach to identify and measure organizational asymmetry in LIPs. Empirical data were collected from a single LIP, the Shanghai West Bund Media Port project. Multi-source data were collected, including semi-structured interviews with project experts and two-wave questionnaire surveys, to construct a knowledge value flow (KVF) network comprising 95 KVFs across seven organizational kinds. The design structure matrix method, combined with Danielson's algorithm, was used to identify and analyze interorganizational KVFs and structural relationships. Findings We developed three indicators, value advantage, network advantage, and integrated advantage, to measure organizational advantages and used them to classify organizations in LIPs as powerful, wealthy, central, or disadvantaged. An advantage-asymmetry indicator was further constructed to assess asymmetry across the KVF network, revealing that asymmetric relationships among disadvantaged, underpowered, and powerful organizations dominate the network structure (75.68%). Building on these results, we identify three recurring advantage-asymmetry scenarios that explain how heterogeneous organizational advantages enhance VCC in LIPs: complementarity between value advantage and network advantage within organizations, complementarity across different levels of organizational advantage, and broker selection that translates asymmetry into collaborative synergy. Originality/value Our study advances research on LIPs by developing and empirically applying a structured measurement framework for organizational asymmetry derived from knowledge complementarity. By operationalizing asymmetry through value advantage, network advantage, and integrated advantage within a KVF network, we make organizational asymmetry analytically observable and comparable in LIP settings. The case-based analysis illustrates how this framework can reveal complementary configurations and broker roles that shape VCC. Methodologically, the value network analysis approach provides a structured procedure for examining knowledge-based asymmetry in LIPs.