11. The inter-firm cooperation
Thursday, 14 October 2021 14:33
Type of cooperation and agreement that companies may establish—> it’s necessary
because the majority of the companies are of little or medium size, and so it’s not
possible to get bigger with the previous 3 scopes
Ex. Two family owned company: X and Y
The relationship:
• X is a big costumer for Y
• Y is a key supplier for X
• Uncertainty about the future —> need to strength and protect the relationship
Possible solutions:
• X buys and incorporates Y —> 1 institution XY owned by family X
• X buys all shares of Y without incorporating Y —> 2 autonomous companies
• X merge with Y —> they coparticipate in a new company Z: the two families are the
2 main shareholders
• The two family trade some shares between each other —> 2 outonomus companies
X and Y but both family holds some shares of the other
• Establishing a 5 year contract —> X has to buy a minimum amount of units, Y
guarantee exclusivity ans invest an establishes amount to improve its volume
capacity
There are a lot of different solutions, most of them are hybrid between having 2
independent companies and a single entity.
Three categories of hybrid solutions:
○ Corporate groups: based on equity relationship= a company holds the shares
of the other
○ Formal alliances and networks: agreement with a legal validity that can
protect several conditions
○ Informal alliances and networks: agreements that rely on trust, routine…
(See slide 4)
THE MATRIX OF INTER-FIRM COOPERATION
Thursday, 14 October 2021 14:33
Type of cooperation and agreement that companies may establish—> it’s necessary
because the majority of the companies are of little or medium size, and so it’s not
possible to get bigger with the previous 3 scopes
Ex. Two family owned company: X and Y
The relationship:
• X is a big costumer for Y
• Y is a key supplier for X
• Uncertainty about the future —> need to strength and protect the relationship
Possible solutions:
• X buys and incorporates Y —> 1 institution XY owned by family X
• X buys all shares of Y without incorporating Y —> 2 autonomous companies
• X merge with Y —> they coparticipate in a new company Z: the two families are the
2 main shareholders
• The two family trade some shares between each other —> 2 outonomus companies
X and Y but both family holds some shares of the other
• Establishing a 5 year contract —> X has to buy a minimum amount of units, Y
guarantee exclusivity ans invest an establishes amount to improve its volume
capacity
There are a lot of different solutions, most of them are hybrid between having 2
independent companies and a single entity.
Three categories of hybrid solutions:
○ Corporate groups: based on equity relationship= a company holds the shares
of the other
○ Formal alliances and networks: agreement with a legal validity that can
protect several conditions
○ Informal alliances and networks: agreements that rely on trust, routine…
(See slide 4)
THE MATRIX OF INTER-FIRM COOPERATION
