This study examines the issues of collaboration and competition in the context of oil and gas sector organizations. The convergence of economics and organization science literatures suggests a connection between the prevalence of extraorganizational exchange and the role of technology in driving innovation and growth. Specifically, the role of collaboration as a strategy for increasing the returns to technology and providing competitive advantage is explored in this research. / Two questions were advanced to examine the framework. The first investigated the relationships between a set of organizational characteristics and collaborative success; four propositions were developed to test this question. The second issue explored how organizations manage collaborative-competitive tensions in an environment characterized as fiercely competitive and marked by widespread collaborative arrangements. / Using a qualitative research methodology, thirty face-to-face interviews were conducted with executives and senior-level managers from twenty-three companies over an eight-month period; a questionnaire was also used to gather the more objective information. The sample included diversified energy, exploration and development, pipeline and oil and gas service companies. The majority of firms were located in the Houston, Texas area. / The most important implications of the study pertain to innovation and organizational change issues. Principal findings were that the ability to manage complex and multiple time frames was positively associated with an organization's level of collaborative capability, a construct that measured collaborative experience and expertise; organizational boundaries that are neither completely permeable nor fully defined were consistent with more successful collaborations; and the proposed direct relationship between collaborative capability and competitive advantage was only weakly supported. Further results indicate that three-fourths of the sample did not experience conflict between collaborative and competitive strategies, while those firms that noted tensions were confined to oil and gas service companies; and collaborative arrangements were motivated by three imperatives of capital intensity, competition and dependency, each of which led to distinct organizational outcomes.

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