Analysing Inter-Organizational Relationships in the Context of Their Business Systems: A Conceptual Framework for Comparative Research

Abstract: This paper suggests a cross-country comparative framework of inter-organizational relationships and organizational performance. It connects three different bodies of literature, dealing with three different issues: the role of (a) socio-organizational factors in relationships across organizational boundaries; (b) legal contractual arrangements, human capital features, and information and communication technologies as control and coordination mechanisms; and (c) convergence versus divergence of cultural and institutional patterns of national business systems. The argument is illustrated by reference to Germany, Great Britain, Ireland and the Netherlands. In so doing, the effects of population size (large for Germany and Great Britain vis-à-vis small for Ireland and the Netherlands) and governance regime (Anglo-Saxon in Great Britain and Ireland vis-à-vis continental-European in Germany and the Netherlands) are argued to play a central role in determining the nature of interorganizational relationships.;