CHAPTER 6: Beyond the “Ideal”: Exploring Controls in Interfirm Settings From a Combinatorial Perspective

The aim of this chapter is to evaluate the “ideal” control archetypes proposed for interfirm alliances and to deepen our understanding of the potential control archetypes’ coexistence and evolution. This purpose will be pursued by using a combinatorial view, which will provide new original insights into interorganizational control. First of all, it will contribute to elucidating the possible connections among control elements, rather than just one-to-one relations between control items and contextual variables, thus incorporating the notion of a systemic fit. Second, it will recognize that various control combinations may be effective at the same time, underlining, in this way, the principle of equifinality. Third, it will clarify that complementarity of controls is not only the result of consistency deriving from uniformity but can also result from dissimilarity of control mechanisms. By focusing on these principles, an approach for designing control configurations in interfirm alliances will be presented.