Management of complex business relationships

As vertically integrated companies evolve into organizations based on cooperation and relationships with other companies, new needs for interorganizational governance arise. In this context, governance means developing certain types of relationships and exchanges using various methods and techniques that together form a governance system. Inter-organisational governance is of great importance for most companies, but knowledge of this phenomenon is based on studies of rather one-dimensional relationships. Much of the complexity that in practice characterizes interorganizational relationships is thus ignored in these studies. The overall aim of the project is therefore to create greater understanding of the governance of interorganizational relationships. Through the following research questions, the project addresses three specific complexities: (1) How does the governance of certain activities affect the governance of other activities within complex, multidimensional interorganizational relationships? (2) How does the design and use of internal governance systems affect interorganizational governance systems and vice versa? (3) What role does institutional duality play in the governance of international interorganizational relations? We answer these questions through interview-based case studies of interorganizational relations. The project will take two years and the results will not only advance the research front, but also be disseminated to practitioners and used in our teaching.