Interorganizational relationships and results: a study in a network of horizontal cooperation of the central region of Paraná

Due to a gap in the literature, the objective of the present study is to understand the results of an interorganizational cooperation network in the retail segment of building materials. With this purpose, the motivating factors were first identified, in addition to the facilitating and complicating factors in order to achieve results and identify how they relate to these factors, and these factors and their link with the results of relationships are the center of the discussion presented in the literature review. The case study was regarded as the most effective strategy for this descriptive research since its inherent flexibility allowed both for a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. It was seen that the main difficulty mentioned was the low level of cooperation and the high levels of competitiveness among the companies that were members of the association. In turn, concerning the results of the relationships, it was certified that the relationship motivators do not correspond with the results of such relationships. The study also demonstrates an apparent positive correlation between the complicating factor related to cooperation and competition with the fact that the association's actions do not produce the desired effect.