ABSTRACT
The Nobel Prize winning economist Oliver Williamson (1975) said that consideration of costs and risks would predispose a company to either carry out the work in-house or seek the product or service from the market – the make or buy decision. He also suggested that halfway between the two options there was a hybrid situation which he called ‘relational governance’. This can involve straightforward customer–supplier manufacturing, service or project relationships, but more often these involve complex supply, co-manufacture, co-marketing, co-development and outsourcing relationships. Usually they are of a high value and/or strategic in nature.
