Abstract
Since the early 1980s, firms in the West have shown greater interest in forming cooperative ventures with other companies. Such inter-firm arrangements are nothing new, but as we suggested in the previous chapter, this development is part of the more comprehensive structural response to rapidly changing environmental conditions. (Chapter 10 below considers aspects of inter-firm cooperation in an international context.) Thus, companies are focusing on developing core capabilities and deeper knowledge bases that can be used in combination with those of other firms to pursue a common strategic objective, such as developing a new product or process or penetrating a different market. Inter-firm structures also help to mobilise the financial resources needed to meet development costs (Chapter 4), but, fundamentally, the proliferation of strategic alliances reflects the need for firms to combine their learning abilities.
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Further Reading
Birchall, J. (1994) Co-op: The People’s Business (Manchester: Manchester University Press).
Boyce, G. (2001a) Co-operative Structures in Global Business (London: Routledge).
Buckley, P.J. and Casson, M.C. (1989) ‘A Theory of Co-operation in International Business’, in F.J. Contractor and P. Lorange (eds), Co-operative Strategies in International Busines (Lexington, Mass.: Lexington Books).
Cassis, Y. (1985) ‘Bankers and English Society in the Late Nineteenth Century’, Economic History Review, 38 (2).
Fruin, M. (1992) The Japanese Enterprise System: Competitive Strategies and Corporative Structures (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
Richardson, P. (1987) ‘The Origins and Development of the Collins House Group, 1915–1951’, Australian Economic History Review, 27 (1).
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© 2002 Gordon Boyce and Simon Ville
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Boyce, G., Ville, S. (2002). Interorganisational Relations and Cooperative Structures. In: The Development of Modern Business. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-12008-3_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-12008-3_9
Publisher Name: Palgrave, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-333-59878-8
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