This document discusses several perspectives on interorganizational relationships: - Resource-dependence theory states that organizations try to control external resources to minimize dependence on other organizations. Forms of control include ownership, contracts, and mergers. - The collaborative network perspective argues that companies can join together to share resources and become more competitive. - The population ecology perspective focuses on how organizations adapt and compete for resources within a population of similar organizations. - The institutional perspective views organizations as conforming to social norms and values through mimetic, coercive, and normative forces from stakeholders.

1. interorganizational
collaboration
Today a company can choose to develop positive, trusting
relationships.
A new view described by James Moore argues that
organizations are now evolving into business ecosystems.
An organizational ecosystem is a system formed by the
interaction of a community of organizations and their
environment.
A company can create its own ecosystem. Apple, for
instance, working in several major industries, including
consumer electronics, Internet services, mobile phones,
personal computers, and entertainment.

2. In an organizational
ecosystem, conflict and
cooperation exist at the
same time.
Flat-panel televisions

3. A Framework of
Interorganizational
Relationships

4. Resource-dependence theory
organizations try to minimize their dependence on other organizations for the supply of important resources and try
to influence the environment to make resources available.
*- Organizations succeed by striving for independence and autonomy. organizations will assert control over external
resources to minimize that dependence.
Forms of resource-dependence:
1. purchasing ownership in suppliers,
2. developing long-term contracts
3. joint ventures/ joining trade
4. interlocking directorships
5. Merging with another firm
6. Supply chain management

5. Supply chain
management
refers to managing
the sequence of suppliers and
purchasers, covering all stages
of processing from obtaining
raw materials to distributing
finished goods to consumers.
Example: suppliers of Wal-
Mart retails shops have data
about orders, production levels,
and needed materials, ensuring
that resources are available
when needed.

6. Power Implications
Note: Organizations operating under the resource-dependence philosophy will do whatever is needed to avoid
excessive dependence on the environment and maintain control of resources, (i.e.: reducing uncertainty)
Power Implications
In resource-dependence theory, large, independent companies have power over small suppliers.
For example(1), power in consumer products has shifted from vendors such as Faragello to the big discount
retail chains Fathallah and carrefour which can demand—and receive—special pricing deals.
Fathallah can ask Faragello to absorb more costs of shipment and provide more services often without a
price increase. However Faragello has no choice but to go along, and those who refuse may go out of business.

7. Power Implications
For example (2), Power is also shifting in other industries. technology suppliers such as
Amazon have been seeing a big power shift is the publishing and bookselling industry.
Amazon disabled the “Buy Now” button for some small publishers, let consumers use an
Amazon-owned company for print services and electronic publishing.

8. The collaborative-network
is an emerging alternative to resource dependence theory. Companies join together to become more
competitive and to share scarce resources.
Why Collaboration?
1. sharing risks when entering new markets,
2. and reducing costs,
3. enhancing organizational profile in selected industries for greater innovation, problem solving,
and performance

9. The
collaborative
-network

10. The population-ecology perspective
differs from the other perspectives because it focuses on organizational diversity and adaptation
within a population of organizations.
A population is a set of organizations engaged in similar activities with similar patterns of
resource utilization and outcomes. (i.e.: Organizations within a population compete for similar
resources or similar customers.
The population-ecology model is concerned with organizational forms. Each new organization
tries to find a niche sufficient to support it.

11. The institutional environment
is composed of norms and values from stakeholders. the institutional view believes that organizations
adopt structures and processes to please outsiders,
Three Mechanisms for Institutional Adaptation
1. Mimetic forces,
The pressure to copy or model other organizations.
*- Executives observe an innovation in a firm so they are quickly copied. example was the rapid
growth of wi-fi hotspots in cafes(Starbucks), hotels, airports,

12. The institutional environment
2Coercive forces
are the external pressures exerted on an organization to adopt structures,
techniques, or behaviours similar to other organizations.
For example, government imposes new pollution control equipment. Health and
safety regulations may request safety officer be appointed. Fathallah, for instance,
requires many of its suppliers to use radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags.
3.Normative forces
are pressures to change to achieve standards of professionalism and to adopt
techniques that are considered by the professional community such as
accounting starndards , university degrees