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This paper aims to analyze the effects of enabling management control systems (MCSs) and relational capabilities (interorganizational learning and coordination) on conflict management in innovation ecosystems.

Shedding light on relational governance, structural equation modeling (symmetric analysis) and qualitative comparative fuzzy-set analysis (asymmetric analysis) were applied to a sample of 164 Brazilian firms associated with science and technology parks (STPs), a specific type of innovation ecosystem.

The results of the symmetric analysis showed that enabling MCSs have a direct and positive effect on conflict management, as well indirect effects through interorganizational learning and coordination. The results of the asymmetric analysis indicated four solutions to promote high levels of conflict management, with enabling MCS solutions standing out, as they are present in the majority of cases in the sample.

Interorganizational conflict in innovation ecosystems are inevitable, but the previous literature is inconclusive about how the interrelation between MCS and relational capabilities can foster the management of these conflicts. By providing evidence on the predictors and solutions that lead to high levels of conflict management, this study presents valuable insights into how firms and STPs can mutually promote organizational and relational benefits throughout the innovation activities developed among those involved in innovation ecosystems.

Adopting aspects of the resource-based perspective and interorganizational relational dynamics, this paper examines the notion of resource transformation in the reconstitution of broken interorganizational relationships.

Following a qualitative approach, the research involved four in-depth case studies of buyer–supplier relationships among 12 Scandinavian manufacturing firms.

The results suggest that reconstituting broken interorganizational relationships, whether overlooked or underutilized, can pose important consequences for resource transformations. To adapt in dynamic environments, firms use resources in new combinations, and various relationship-specific resources may be difficult, if not impossible, to transform independent of the reconstitution process. Such resource transformations can occur when competencies in reconstituting interorganizational relationships are combined to synthesize novel resources or recombined with other resources. Four identified types of resource transformations in reconstitution processes – in production facilities, products, human know-how and coordination of interorganizational collaboration – can occur in each firm and/or in the interorganizational relationship.

Although the explorative multiple-case study approach afforded novel insights, the findings have no representative or generalizable implications in any positivist sense and thus warrant careful interpretation. Nevertheless, they make important contributions to the literature and illuminate promising avenues for future research, which should involve additional data collection and quantitative studies.

As firms reconstitute broken interorganizational relationships, the transformation of their resources can provide new, expected resources capable of generating substantial benefits.

This paper fills an identified gap in research regarding how reconstituting broken interorganizational relationships influence the transformation of resources. The paper provides new conceptual and empirical insights as well as makes several contributions to the literature on the topic.

The purpose of this paper is to delineate the similarities and distinctions between cooperation and coordinate and to present distinctive definitions for each.

An extensive review of the extant literature was conducted to examine the precedents with regards to the conceptual domains of cooperation and coordination.

This paper concludes that cooperation is an orientation that one firm has about working with another organization; whereas, coordination are joint activities. This is reflected in the definitions presented in this paper.

Several researchers and practitioners alike view cooperation and coordination as synonymous. However, an organization's cooperative orientation about working with another organization does not inherently lead to coordination. This paper points out that it is necessary to consider cooperation and coordination as two separate but related issues in managing interorganizational relationships.

The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on knowledge transfer in interorganizational partnerships. The aim is to assess the advances in this field by addressing the questions: What factors impact knowledge transfer in interorganizational partnerships? How do these factors interact with each other?

The study reports results of a literature review conducted in ten top journals between 2000 and 2017 in the fields of strategy and innovation studies.

The review identifies three overarching themes, which were organized according to 14 research questions. The first theme discusses knowledge in itself and elaborates on aspects of its attributes. The second theme presents the factors that influence interorganizational knowledge transfer at the macroeconomic, interorganizational, organizational and individual levels. The third theme focuses on the consequences, namely, effectiveness and organizational performance.

Partnership managers may improve and adjust contracts, structures, processes and routines, as well as build support mechanisms and incentives to guarantee effectiveness in knowledge transfer in partnerships.

The study proposes a novel theoretical framework that links antecedents, process and outcomes of knowledge transfer in interorganizational partnerships, while also identifying aspects that are either less well researched or contested and thereby suggesting directions for future research.

The field of interorganizational studies is not currently known for applying qualitative methodologies with the same enthusiasm as statistically‐based survey techniques. A review of recent developments in qualitative methodologies reveals several techniques which can be fruitfully applied to the study of interorganizational (IO) networks. This paper extends the meaning‐based social definitionist perspective to the study of IO networks, by drawing upon the relevant theoretical aspects of social phenomenology, symbolic interactionism, and ethnomethodology. The social definitionist perspective is concerned with theories and methodologies relevant to the social definition and construction of meaning in multiple actor settings. Such a meaning‐based perspective would facilitate the application of qualitative methodologies to IO networks, in parallel with similar developments in organizational behavior. The paper identifies four specific types of qualitative analyses for IO studies: phenomenological typification, domain analysis, componential analysis, and conversational analysis.

This study aims to clarify systematically the contribution of material flow cost accounting (MFCA) to green supply chain management (GSCM) by examining the coordination mechanisms.

Two qualitative case studies are conducted in a major Japanese manufacturing company, which introduced MFCA in two different supply chains. The concept of coordination mechanisms in supply chain management is used to consolidate the understanding on the usefulness of MFCA in GSCM.

The study’s findings reveal the significant role played by MFCA in coordinating material flows and eliminating sub-optimization in the supply chain from both economic and environmental perspectives. Furthermore, the focal company in the chain has an important role as the MFCA leader in implementing MFCA in the chain. In particular, the environmental department can eliminate suppliers’ concerns regarding opportunistic buyer behaviors and focus on material flows across the supply chain.

The study highlights the possibility of reviewing existing transactions by coordinating material flows. This is a new direction for the adoption of MFCA in GSCM. In addition, although the study highlights the importance of the environmental department as an MFCA leader, future research is necessary to establish this aspect with greater precision.

The two case studies discussed in this paper demonstrate the usefulness of MFCA expansion into the supply chain, as well as information sharing and progression, in the development of GSCM.

This study will contribute to enhance the green supply chain by implementing MFCA.

This study indicates that MFCA can potentially reveal the material losses caused by sub-optimization and provide information to avoid sub-optimization in decision-making. Moreover, it highlights the importance of the environmental department as an MFCA leader.

Strategic alliances have a low success rate despite the profusion of literature on this topic in the last 20 years. To understand the factors that determine performance of partnership relations, the purpose of this paper is to study the roles of control and the strength of interorganizational ties in businesses ability to manage strategic alliances.

The authors have examined 10,377 partnership relations formed as part of strategic alliances to analyze the capacity of a business to manage its alliances. The authors built a structural equations model (PLS) based on observation of 4,242 alliances.

This research identifies two determinants of the success of alliance management. First, the impact of weak ties and strong ties is identical when the business does not control the alliance. Second, weak ties are a more effective means than strong ties when a business controls the alliance.

The main contribution of this study thus lies in our analysis of interorganizational relations and of their tangible impact on strategic trade-offs. The field of public procurement is particularly well-suited to evaluating this phenomenon, given the subtlety of alliances at play.

Key account management plays a pivotal role for managers and practitioners in maintaining successful customer–supplier relationships. Yet, little is known conceptually and empirically as to how suppliers can develop international key account management capabilities in international customer–supplier relationships. Drawing from resource-based view and dynamic capability literature, we develop and test a model of the impact of IT capabilities on international key account management capabilities and firm performance. An explorative case study of Taiwanese electronics suppliers reveals that IT capabilities are critical to develop supplier international key account management capabilities. Moreover, IT capabilities can enhance supplier performance through improving international KAM capabilities.

The alliance governance – whether equity or non-equity based – through which an alliance is governed serves as a mechanism to protect a firm from partner's opportunistic behavior, manage resource dependence and facilitate knowledge sharing. Alliance governance structure also reflects the risk, reward and control that partners perceive in a relationship. In light of the conflicts and instabilities reported in strategic alliances, the purpose of this paper is to examine the interorganizational domain that affects the endurance and continuity of collaboration and explain how the alliance interface contexts determines the structuring of alliance governance.

An empirical examination of 179 strategic alliances, using survey and archival data conducted to test the hypothesized relationship between the choice of governance structure and the complexity of alliance task, balance of power and competitive scope between partners.

A multinomial logistic regression of the hypothesized variables revealed that the complexity of alliance task, balance of power, and competitive scope between partners are significantly related to the mode of alliance governance – whether non-equity, minority-equity, or joint venture.

This study makes a significant contribution to the understanding of the relationships between the contextual factors such as the alliance task, power dynamics, and competitive scope that shape the collaboration and structuring of appropriate alliance governance mode. Results of the study provide strong evidence for the hypotheses that the greater the task complexity, and greater the balance of power and scope of competition between partners, the alliance governance tends to be equity or joint venture based. Consistent with recommendations of several organizational scholars that the theory of alliance governance and performance must shift from individual partner firm to interaction domain and interface contexts (Luo, 2002; Gray and Wood, 1991; Oxley and Sampson, 2004), this study integrally examined the dyadic issues such as balance of power, task complexity, and the competitive scope and the dynamic role they play in decisions pertaining to alliance governance. While many extant studies on the choice of alliance governance structure have employed secondary data sources, the study employed data from survey measures (Gulati, 1995; Teng and Das, 2008; Oxley and Sampson, 2004) enhancing the validity of the results.

This paper traces the evolution of logistics and supply chain management (SCM) and projects the state of the field in the near term with the attendant challenges for those who must plan and control logistics/supply chain operations.

Key events that created business logistics are noted, the views of the field leaders are identified and assessed, and research outcomes are compared as a basis for how logistics/SCM is viewed today.

The scope of the field has broadened bringing new challenges for researchers and managers, but the broader scope was envisioned from its formation. Improvements in information technology and the just‐in‐time philosophy are the principal drivers for realizing the potential of boundary‐spanning channel management.

The conclusions and projections are based on the author's interpretation of the events surrounding logistics and the supply chain as they have occurred over the last 45 years.

Researchers and managers should find the projections of this paper valuable in defining their action agendas for improving logistics/supply chain operations. Principal among the challenges is the need for a boundary‐spanning accounting system, for a mechanism of sharing the benefits of cooperation among supply chain members, for enhanced relationship skills of logistics/supply chain managers, and for improved methods of estimating the revenue contribution potential of the supply chain.

The personal observations of the author lend a unique perspective as to how the logistics/supply chain has developed and what challenges face researchers and managers if the future potential of the field is to be realized.