1. To Exchange or not to Exchange Information - That's a Question in Inter-organizational R&D collaboration.
- Author
-
Johansson, Jeaneth J. and Malmström, Malin M.
- Subjects
INFORMATION sharing ,INTERORGANIZATIONAL relations ,BUSINESS communication ,RESEARCH & development partnership ,INNOVATIONS in business ,SOCIAL exchange - Abstract
The purpose is to explore the role of social relations in explaining exchange inter-organizational fuzzy-front open innovation R&D-projects collaborations. More specifically, we explore on social mechanisms for exchange and how such mechanisms may influence the project outcome. Social exchange theory is used for addressing this purpose. Despite that collaborative R&D-projects expect to bring advantages to collaborative partners, findings in prior studies are mixed. A three-year R&D-collaboration project was longitudinally studied using qualitative methods (29 interviews, observations of 7 project meetings). Three social mechanisms guiding interorganizational exchange are identified; trust, partner commitment and interorganizational congruence. Risks of lock-in situations in R&D-projects are identified outlining an information exchange paradox. This study advances understanding of social mechanisms as facilitators in social exchange and their significance for success/failure outcome in inter-organizational R&D-projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2012