Transactions costs are generally defined as the cost for gathering information, negotiation, and contracting, and physical transaction of objects through a defined interface. According to this theory, enterprises and markets are alternative governance structures that differ in their transactions costs. From this point of view, cooperation is explained as an organizational “hybrid” form between the market and the enterprise.
Published in Chapter:
Fair Distribution of Collaboration Benefits
António Abreu (New University of Lisbon, Portugal) and Luis M. Camarinha-Mato (New University of Lisbon, Portugal)
Copyright: © 2008
|Pages: 7
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-59904-885-7.ch079
Abstract
The participation in a collaborative network of enterprises is commonly assumed to bring valuable benefits to the involved entities (Afsarmanesh, Marik, & Camarinha- Matos, 2004; Axelroad, 1984; Dussauge & Garrette, 1999; Nemes & Mo, 2004; Penã & Arroyabe, 2002; Pfeffer & Salancik, 1978; Tuomi, 2003). These benefits include an increase of the “survival capability” in a context of market turbulence but also the possibility of better achieving common goals (Camarinha-Matos & Abreu, 2004; Richter, 2000; Saveri, Rheingold, & Pang, 2004). On the basis of these expectations are, among others, the following factors: acquisition of a (virtual) higher dimension, access to new/wider markets and new knowledge, sharing of risks and resources, joining of complementary skills and capacities, and so forth. But it is also easily recognizable that collaboration introduces high overheads due to the transaction costs (Williamson, 1975, 1985, 1998) which induce higher coordination costs and also due to the diversity of working methods and corporate culture.