ABSTRACT
Relational contracts and collaborations often involve complex configurations of several co-producing firms, linked into networks of varying breadth, depth and organisational form. The availability of the varying options means that the boundaries of firms and the networks into which they enter are variable and have varying degrees of permeability, depending upon the nature of the relationships and the differing power of firms to determine their position within the network. The system integrators possess the technology and/or brand name which indirectly provide sales to the supplier firms. Relational contracts and collaborations often involve complex configurations of several co-producing firms, linked into networks of varying breadth, depth and organisational form. The location of decisive power in relations among firms co-producing within networks depends in part upon the character of the commodities produced, their cultures of production and the governance arrangements that link firms together.
