Abstract
The present study addresses the process of inter-organizational relationships from two theoretical perspectives: resource dependence and transaction costs. First, the text presents a bibliographic review on the two theoretical constructs; next, it discusses how the use of these theories can contribute to understanding the interorganizational phenomenon. Despite the divergence between the two perspectives, the authors conclude that they are convergent based on the bibliographic review. The convergence of these conceptions relates to the fact that organizational relations are a key factor for the functioning of companies. The resource dependence perspective suggests that resources are distributed in the environment and that firms develop organizational relationships to obtain them; in contrast, the perspective of transaction costs refers to the relations of economic exchange between organizations. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the assumptions of these two theoretical perspectives to understand inter-organizational relationships.
Keywords:
Resource dependence; Transaction costs; Inter-organizational relationships