The Oxford Handbook of Inter-Organizational Relations

Abstract

The Oxford Handbook of Inter-Organizational Relations provides a structured overview of Inter-Organizational Relations (IOR). IOR, the study of Strategic Alliances, Joint Ventures, Partnerships, Networks, and other forms of relationship between organizations, is a field of study that has burgeoned over the last four decades, but is fragmented, drawing contributions from a wide variety of disciplines, theoretical bases, and sectorial interests. The material is organized into three main sections. The first section relates to research that focuses on particular manifestations of IORs such as industry, supply, policy and project networks, public and voluntary sector partnerships, strategic alliances, and so on. The second section relates to research that stems from distinct disciplinary or theoretical bases, including social networks, evolutionary theory, transaction cost economics, management process, psychology, critical theory, political theory, economic geography, and the legal perspective. The third section focuses on key topics in contemporary IOR topics or those that will become so in the future. These include, trust, power, development interventions, social capital, learning and knowledge, dynamics and change, and evaluation.