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Alliances have become commonplace. This has led to a considerable number of academic and professional publications on alliances and, more recently, on the dynamics of cooperation. However, the body of knowledge on the dynamics of cooperation developed so far is characterized by fragmentation, lack of coherence and non-comparable research output. There is no consensus on paradigmatic beliefs, which hampers theoretical progress. As a result, there is what we call an academic gap. Moreover, the literature on the dynamics of cooperation often studies research questions that are irrelevant to managers' needs. As a consequence, there is also a managerial relevance gap. The emergence of these two gaps is primarily due to the choice of assumptions, the emphasis on originality, and the use of a variety of methodological approaches. Nevertheless, we believe it is still possible to reverse the trend and make the literature on the dynamics of cooperation more relevant.

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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to offer a view that a firm's critical resources and capabilities span firm boundaries, and are embedded in inter‐firm resources and routines.Design/methodology/approachBuilding on a capability view the paper argues that firms can engender sustainable competitive advantage by enabling firms to build and leverage inter‐organizational relationships to generate relational rents by: fostering close working relationships with a limited number of suppliers; building effective network structures, and developing a long term orientation. Using PLS path modelling, the paper empirically tests a number of hypothesized relationships based on a sample of 176 Dutch firms.FindingsThe results demonstrate that inter‐firm network capability significantly and substantially affects supplier performance as well as buyer performance, thereby providing evidence of the predictive validity of the inter‐firm network capability construct.Originality/valueThe study contributes to a more complete understanding of a firm's collaborative capabilities in developing and leveraging inter‐organizational relationships and enhances the knowledge of the drivers of rent generating capabilities that contribute to the firm's performance.

Research highlights There are three distinct modes of network management: basically coordinated, controloriented and reward-oriented  Basically coordinated networks can only be managed in a limited way  Reward-and control-oriented networks can be managed, but through very different AbstractOver the last few decades, the industrial marketing literature and the business network literature have promoted a holistic approach to marketing and provided a framework for understanding interorganizational networks. However, our understanding of how interorganizational networks govern themselves when developing innovations is still limited. Most network management literature does not focus on the activities employed by network actors and/or does not recognize that there may be different modes of network management. This study explores how, why and in which combination network management activities are employed in a network and in doing so proposes a new conceptualization of network management. Using primary and secondary data pertaining to eleven innovation projects, this study reveals how network management consists of combinations of (rather than individual) management activities undertaken to manage a network.This study identifies three distinct modes of network management: basically coordinated, control-oriented and reward-oriented. Moreover, this study proposes that network actors try to match the management mode to their prevailing mental model as well as the type of network (e.g. in terms of project innovativeness).