Inter-Organizational Fit, Relationship Management Capability, and Collaborative Performance: An Empirical Analysis

In studying the antecedents of inter-organizational relationship performance, the influence of partners’ characteristics (i.e. strategic compatibility, operational compatibility and resource complementarity), and partners’ relationship management capability (i.e. coordination and relational capability) have been established in the management literature.  I integrate these two perspectives within a unified theoretical framework to empirically examine the relative efficacy of key factors or constructs within two examined perspectives. I investigate the hypotheses within non-governmental organizations. I use Partial Least Squares to examine the proposed hypotheses using a sample of 132 respondents. Data are collected through a web-survey of international humanitarian NGOs in countries across Africa, Asia and South America. The results reveals that (i) resource complementarity, coordination capability and relational capability are significant factors influencing collaborative performance through their effect on mutual trust, reciprocal commitment and relationship specific investment; and (ii) similarities in partners’ missions, values, goals or operational methods and procedures do not significantly inhibit or drive success or failure of collaboration between international NGOs. Managerial implications of the findings are discussed.

Biography:
I have a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering and a master’s degree in Business Administration both from Sharif University of Technology in Iran. After studying in academia, I decided to move to management consulting. During this time, I worked for a wide variety of firms and sectors, including MATN Technology Development Company, Iran National Research Institute for Science and Technology Policy, and Municipality of Tehran. Subsequently, I decided to return to academia to pursue a research career. I visited Helsinki University of Technology and Tilburg University and participated in several empirical research methods classes.

I completed my PhD program at the Università della Svizzera italiana (University of Lugano) in Switzerland. My PhD dissertation is about inter-organizational relationship management within the context of humanitarian aid, and has been conducted under the direction of Prof. Paulo Gonçalves. It consists of three papers representing an early attempt to explore conceptually and empirically the collaboration in a humanitarian setting. In 2011, I received Runner-up award for PhD dissertation proposal from the College of Sustainable Operations at Production and Operations Management Society, and in 2014, I received Runner-up award for best paper competition at POMS’s College of Humanitarian Operations & Crisis Management in Atlanta. In another study collaborating with Prof. Gonçalves, we explore the impact of information visibility on ordering behaviour in supply chain. Our research compiles and analyses the data from two experiments with the Beer Game.

I currently hold a grant from Swiss National Science Foundation to empirically investigate the antecedent factors influencing the relationships between international and local actors conducting humanitarian operations.