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How Contracts And Culture Mediate Joint Transactions Of Innovation Partnerships

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  • JOCHEN SCHWEITZER

    (University of Technology Sydney, City Campus Haymarket, PO Box 123 Broadway, NSW 2007, Australia)

Abstract

Although the literature suggests that matters of contracting and governance in strategic innovation partnerships are interrelated and that governance of partnerships generally occurs with contractual heterogeneity, our understanding about the specific relationships between contracting and the partnership culture that facilitates joint transactions is rather vague. In this study, we clarify how the complexity of contractual agreements between partners in conjunction with the alignment of their innovation objectives and the ambiguity inherent in their mutual contributions to the partnership can be used to predict the culture of the partnership. We find that innovation partnerships result to be one of four types: bureaucratic, market, clan, or adhocracy. Our result emphasises the central role of contractual complexity as a suitable and relevant concept to capture the nature of inter-organisational innovation partnerships.

Suggested Citation

  • Jochen Schweitzer, 2016. "How Contracts And Culture Mediate Joint Transactions Of Innovation Partnerships," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 20(01), pages 1-33, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:wsi:ijimxx:v:20:y:2016:i:01:n:s1363919616500055
    DOI: 10.1142/S1363919616500055
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