Interaction mechanisms Interaction mechanisms are defined in this article as
the means by which two organizations connect during a transaction or series of
transactions. This definition relates to bridging ties; a concept based on sociological
theory. Research on bridging ties focused primarily on strength and redundancy
of ties, and their effect on information dissemination, idea generation and
competitive capabilities (Burt, 2004; Granovetter, 1973; McEvily and Zaheer,
1999). While the following discussion will integrate this school of thought, our
focus will be on dimensions of interaction mechanisms emerging from our data,
namely the structure of the connection, communication and integration.
Regarding structure, our data showed that UILs do not differ to a great extent.
All telephone interview respondents indicated that they agreed on tasks and/or
goals at the beginning of a project, predominantly set in a contract, but also in a
memorandum of understanding or milestone determination. In-depth interviews
supported the use of similarly formal contracts and agreements.
Our interviewees described communication, the ‘formal as well as informal
sharing of meaningful and timely information between firms’ (Anderson and
Narus, 1990: 44), as one of the most important relationship characteristics. I#4
used the analogy of marriage when discussing its importance, indicating a relational,
long-term approach: ‘ it’s like a marriage . . . the more information goes
between the two organizations the more productive the outcome is likely to be’
(I#4). While this quote links communication, in terms of a bilateral exchange of
information, positively to productive outcomes, U#8 described its effect on other
relationship components: ‘And the other things sort of come from that . . . trust
Interaction mechanisms Interaction mechanisms are defined in this article asthe means by which two organizations connect during a transaction or series oftransactions. This definition relates to bridging ties; a concept based on sociologicaltheory. Research on bridging ties focused primarily on strength and redundancyof ties, and their effect on information dissemination, idea generation andcompetitive capabilities (Burt, 2004; Granovetter, 1973; McEvily and Zaheer,1999). While the following discussion will integrate this school of thought, ourfocus will be on dimensions of interaction mechanisms emerging from our data,namely the structure of the connection, communication and integration.Regarding structure, our data showed that UILs do not differ to a great extent.All telephone interview respondents indicated that they agreed on tasks and/orgoals at the beginning of a project, predominantly set in a contract, but also in amemorandum of understanding or milestone determination. In-depth interviewssupported the use of similarly formal contracts and agreements.Our interviewees described communication, the ‘formal as well as informalsharing of meaningful and timely information between firms’ (Anderson andNarus, 1990: 44), as one of the most important relationship characteristics. I#4used the analogy of marriage when discussing its importance, indicating a relational,long-term approach: ‘ it’s like a marriage . . . the more information goesbetween the two organizations the more productive the outcome is likely to be’
(I#4). While this quote links communication, in terms of a bilateral exchange of
information, positively to productive outcomes, U#8 described its effect on other
relationship components: ‘And the other things sort of come from that . . . trust
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