Views on inter-enterprise relationships

The paper gives an overview of major scientific approaches to inter-enterprise relationships. A distinction is made between approaches that focus on vertical relationships between companies (Value and Supply Chain Management, Transaction Cost Theory and Agency Theory), and approaches that focus on the position of a company in its business and social-economic environment (Strategic Management, Network Theory and Social Capital theory). Specific attention will be paid to the role of information and communication technology for inter-enterprise collaboration. Although the approaches are different with regard to their perspective on collaboration, variables and methods, the paper shows that they are complementary tools in the analysis and design of inter-enterprise relationships.