A STRUCTURATION THEORY OF INTERORGANIZATIONAL COORDINATION: CASES IN ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

Previous research, at once more abstract and more concrete, has neglected the intermediate level of interorganizational coordination (IOC): coordination structures. This theory of IOC identifies coordination structures, ranging from the liaison to markets and interorganizational networks, at various levels of organizational generality and complexity. Coordination structures invoke informal and formal links, based on hierarchy (command), market (exchange), or association‐solidarity (trust). IOC and its related coordination structures are the result of organizations' perceiving their interdependence. IOC cases in environmental management illustrate the theory and its implications for organizational analysis and institutional design.