Beyond the "Ideal": Exploring Controls in Interfirm Settings from a Combinatorial Perspective

The aim of the chapter is to evaluate the ‘ideal’ control archetypes proposed for inter-firm alliances, and to deepen our understanding of the potential control archetypes’ coexistence and evolution. This purpose is pursued by using a combinatorial view, which provides new original insights into inter-organizational control. First of all, it contributes to elucidating the possible connections among control elements, rather than just one-to-one relations between control items and contextual variables, thus incorporating the notion of a systemic fit. Secondly, it allows to recognize that various control combinations may be effective at the same time, underlining, in this way, the principle of equifinality. Thirdly, it clarifies that complementarity of controls is not only the result of consistency deriving from uniformity but can also result from dissimilarity of control mechanisms (Caglio & Ditillo, 2008; Grandori & Furnari, 2008; Malmi & Brown, 2008; Milgrom & Roberts, 1995). By focussing on these principles, an approach for designing control configurations in inter-firm alliances is presented.