ABSTRACT
Why do networks and interfirm coordination need further analysis? The growth in the economic relevance and in the variety of forms of interfirm cooperation has been accompanied by a possibly even more marked growth in the literature devoted to it in many areas of economic and social studies (Sydow 1997; Oliver 1990). These studies have analysed in both theory-and practice-oriented terms the features and properties of a wide variety of interfirm coordination modes that differ from priceand exit-based exchange and competition, ranging from social networks of interfirm joint decision-making, to contract-based bureaucratic networks as franchising or consortia, to proprietary networks as joint ventures and other forms of equity alliance. In spite of this richness, the prolifera©tion of analyses and approaches has been the outcome of a phase of disclosure and exploration in a field that is far from being consolidated and which is actually largely unchartered. In particular, recent reviews of the field of ‘network research’ have detected a variety of blind spots and underresearched themes that deserve attention.
