Inter-organizational Information Alignment: A Conceptual Model of Structure and Governance for Cooperations

The increase of joint ventures and cooperations in general has transformed the classical “make or buy” into “make or cooperate”. Especially the role of information is a major challenge. To unleash the potential of information-based cooperation social, professional and technical aspects have to be considered. This article presents a conceptual model for information sharing and governance between organizations to raise the effectiveness and efficiency of collaboration. The model describes the necessary structure, essential processes and needed roles for inter-organizational information alignment. It can be used as a basis for (1) the analysis of failed inter-organizational cooperation, (2) the optimization of existing cooperative enterprises and (3) the formation of new cooperations.