This dissertation is a study of strategy in thin industries, a class of industries whose members include the aircraft industry, jet engines, heavy electrical equipment, and diesel locomotives. These industries have a number of common features which inter-relate to produce a unique configuration. Foremost among the attributes that make up this configuration is the sparsity and magnitude of transactions on which the industry must subsist. The decrease in the number of transactions, and the increase in their size, results in a "thin" industry. The sparsity and size of transactions combine to produce complex, unstable, and highly interconnected environments. These environmental conditions motivate firms to develop external linkages with other organizations. The successful management of external linkages will frequently depend on knowledge and experience obtained in previous relationships. Many of the problems created by external linkages can only be resolved once they are formed. At the same time, the knowledge required to resolve these problems calls for previous experience. / The dissertation is divided into two parts. In the first three chapters we explore thin industries as a type and as an environment. In the remaining three chapters we look at the ramifications of interorganizational learning on the management of external linkages. In the concluding chapter we discuss the implications of thin industries to the study and practice of strategic management. Three issues in particular are singled out: the decline of organizational autonomy, the limits of competition, and new directions for theory building. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

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