Frontpage  About  admin@impgroup.org
Paper info: Adaptation and commitment in Internet-supported relationships and networks: A case study

Title


Adaptation and commitment in Internet-supported relationships and networks: A case study

Authors


Hanne Kragh

Place of Publication


The paper was published at the 25th IMP-conference in Marseille, France in 2009.

Download


Download paper
(168.9 kb)

Abstract


In the literature on inter-organizational relationships and networks, interaction is often seen as a process of mutual adaptation among business partners. Adaptation furthermore is viewed as a precondition for obtaining and sustaining commitment within business relationships. This paper is concerned with how the increased standardization and modularization enabled by Internet technologies challenge our understanding of adaptation, commitment and the relationship between the two. A theoretical framework for analyzing different types of adaptation is developed and applied to a case study in the IT industry. Analysis of the case shows how the application of Internet technologies reduces the extent of some types of inter-organizational adaptation; however, without severely affecting commitment. Analysis also shows that the improved efficiency and optimization of activities and resources found in some relationships is contingent upon the continued individualization and market-orientation of other relationships and that the two therefore cannot be viewed in isolation.