ABSTRACT
The coordination of activities and resources between firms in industrial systems is a common way of solving the problems firms have of insufficient knowledge and scarce resources. In order to coordinate the activities more effectively, increased integration between firms is often required. This chapter analyses that how changes in integration take place and the effects of such changes on the relationships between the organisations concerned and on the system as a whole. The analysis is focused initially on integration processes in dyads and the effects on the organisations involved in that process. Therefore the chapter starts with an outline of the problem from the point of view of a network perspective and describes the concept of integration, in its different dimensions. The chapter discusses the effects of integration on what are described as involved and non-involved actors. Finally the dynamics of these effects at an identified system level, as well as possible effects on other more distant systems, are elaborated.
