Managers’ Interpretations of Interorganizational Field and Relationship Characteristics

Abstract

How managers interpret their environment is central for interorganizational relations. To contribute to our understanding of this vital issue, in this study we explore managers’ interpretations of their interorganizational field with respect to interorganizational relations and key aspects of these relations with other organizations. For this purpose, we developed a grounded theory study and interviewed executive managers of firms in the seafood industry of a Southern US state. Our findings highlight a list of characteristics in this field that managers consider to shape competitive, cooperative, and coopetitive relations between organizations. Furthermore, they capture key relationship characteristics that managers consider as central to all these types of interorganizational relationships in their field. We conclude with a discussion of our study’s contributions to research on interorganizational relations.