The relationship between internal and external cooperation: literature review and propositions

Abstract

Over time, the management literature has paid much attention to the topic of cooperation. The literature on cooperation can be divided into two broad parts, with one part focusing on cooperation within organizations (internal cooperation) and another addressing cooperation between organizations (external cooperation). Surprisingly, only little attention has been devoted to the relationship between internal and external cooperation, while there are clear indications that both types of cooperation are related. This article explores the nature of the relationship between internal and external cooperation by looking for clues in the existing literature on both types of cooperation as well as related subjects. We classify the findings of our literature review into five perspectives on the relationship between internal and external cooperation: (1) the involvement of both internal and external partners, (2) communication patterns, (3) organizational learning, (4) organizational norms and (5) internal cooperation as a coordination mechanism for external cooperation. Next, we compare the various perspectives and conclude by describing how these perspectives might be used for fruitful future investigations into the link between internal and external cooperation.