Individual shortcomings and the need for resources stimulates organizations desire to establish collaborative relations with each other. An organization tends to prefer to collaborate with other familiar organizations. The information available to an organization about its peers is necessary for its ability to appreciate the suitability of potential partners as well as their capabilities and ability to contribute to a successful collaborative relation. In a three stage analytical process, social network analysis and statistical network modelling is applied to investigate the correlation between patterns of communication and the extent to which organizations establish collaborative relationships. With a theoretical framework of resource dependence theory and social capital, data on information exchanges, resource exchanges and common advocacy among humanitarian 55 organizations is mapped. The first analytical stage explicates the structures of the collected information exchanges and evaluates the prevalence of coordination facilitating communication structures. The second stage appreciates the extent of inter-organizational involvement in collaborative relationships. The third step combines these results to demonstrate the covariance between the prevalence of coordination facilitating structures and extent of collaborative relations. The results indicate that the collected information exchanges exhibit few coordination facilitating structures and the organizations are only to a very limited extent engaged in collaborative relationships with each other. While consistent with previous research on the importance of communication for coordination, these observations illustrate the negative consequences of lacking communication. This analysis contributes with added empirical experiences to solidify our understanding of organizational behavior in inter-organizational interaction and tendencies to establish collaborative relations.

Le potentiel de création de valeur dans une supply chain ne peut être réalisé que grâce à une gestion efficace des relations inter-organisationnelles (Madhok et Tallman, 1998). Xu et Beammon (2006) insistent sur la nécessité de disposer d'un ensemble de moyens et d'outils pour gérer les interdépendances et prendre des décisions cohérentes tout en mettant en avant l'importance des mécanismes de coordination. Ainsi, l'objectif de cette thèse est de faire ressortir les différents éléments qui composent les coordinations inter-organisationnelles dans la supply chain. En outre, nous analysons comment les mécanismes de coordination relationnels et contractuels contribuent à la gestion des intérêts mutuels des relations inter-organisationnelles et permettent la résolution des conflits. Plus spécifiquement, la question de recherche auquel ce travail cherche à répondre est : Quelle est l'influence des mécanismes de coordination relationnels et contractuels sur la coordination inter-organisationnelle de la supply chain ? Afin de mieux comprendre ce phénomène, une étude qualitative a été menée auprès de quinze professionnels dans la supply chain management. Une analyse de contenu thématique a permis de définir de façon plus précise les différents éléments composant la coordination inter-organisationnelle. Les matériaux collectés ont été confrontés à l'analyse de la littérature puis testés auprès d'un échantillon de 216 répondants dans le domaine de la supply chain management. Les données quantitatives collectées ont été analysées à l'aide d'une analyse en composantes principales afin d'épurer nos échelles de mesure. Ensuite, nous avons fait appel aux modèles d'équations structurelles PLS-PM (régressions aux moindres carrées partiels) pour estimer la validité convergente ainsi que la validité discriminante des échelles de mesures. Cette méthode nous a permis de valider nos hypothèses de recherche relatives au modèle de coordination inter-organisationnelle de la supply chain. Les résultats de cette recherche mettent en évidence le lien entre les mécanismes de coordination relationnels et contractuels et leurs impacts sur la collaboration, leurs rôles dans la maitrise des difficultés de coordination ainsi que leurs poids sur l'évaluation de l'efficacité du contrat. Nous avons également étudié un impact du type de partenaire (stratégique, non stratégique) sur la coordination inter-organisationnelle de la supply chain. / In a supply chain, the value creation potential can only be achieved through effective management of inter-organizational relationships (Madhok and Tallman, 1998). Xu and Beammon (2006) underline the need for a set of resources and tools to manage interdependencies and take consistent decisions while emphasizing the importance of coordination mechanisms. Thus, the objective of this thesis is to figure out elements that make up the inter-organizational coordination in the supply chain. Moreover, we analyze inter-organizational coordination between supply chain partners and the role of contractual and relational mechanisms for managing their interests and resolve conflicts. More specifically, through this Dissertation we seek to answer the following question: What is the impact of coordination mechanisms and contractual relationship on inter-organizational coordination of the supply chain? To better understand this phenomenon, a qualitative study was conducted with fifteen professionals in supply chain management field. A thematic content analysis helped define more accurately the various components of inter-organizational coordination. The collected materials were confronted with the analysis of the literature and then tested on a sample of 216 respondents in the field of supply chain management. Quantitative data collected was analyzed using a principal component analysis in order to purify our scales. We then used the PLS -PM of structural equation models (Partial Least Squares Regression) to estimate the convergent and discriminant validity of the measurement scales validity. This method allowed us to validate our research hypotheses concerning the model of inter-organizational coordination of the supply chain. The results of this research highlight the link between the mechanisms of coordination and contractual relationship and their impact on collaboration, their roles in mastering the difficulties of coordination and their weight on the evaluation of the effectiveness of the contract. We also studied an impact on the type of partner (strategic, non-strategic) on inter-organizational coordination of the supply chain.

Globalization and the surge of competition across industries forced companies to improve their supply chain capabilities to serve their customers efficiently and effectively. Due to this fact, businesses are no longer capable of handling all supply chain operations without collaboration and coordination with other firms. One of the key obstacles to coordination is the lack of information sharing and trust between firms since they view information as a sensitive asset. Digital technologies like blockchain, with its inherited features, have the capability to facilitate real-time information sharing, solve trust issues, and improve end-to-end visibility across the supply chain. This licentiate thesis highlights the impact of multiple aspects of information sharing on the bullwhip effect mitigation and explores the potential of blockchain technology as a new coordination mechanism for reducing information distortions, enhancing trust, and orchestrating decision making. Three research papers have been produced within this context and are appended to the thesis. Paper A presents an information sharing-based blockchain architecture to mitigate the bullwhip effect in service supply chains. Paper B aims to explores the literature in terms of using multiple aspects of information sharing to lessen the bullwhip effect. Finally, Paper C introduces an agent-based modeling and simulation approach for two aspects of information sharing: “what to share” and “how to share.” The results show that blockchain technology does provide a significant solution to trust-based issues and information sharing visibility considering the bullwhip effect mitigation. The results also provide a guide for supply chain managers to achieve better coordination and serve as a roadmap for supply chain researchers.