Leading the development and implementation of collaborative interorganizational systems

Developments in network technology have enabled an increasing variety of interorganizational relationships. While the interorganizational systems (IOSs) that support electronic markets or customer/supplier relations have been discussed in the literature, those which support `symbiotic networks' – those which form horizontal alliances to allow collaboration on the collective production of goods or services – have received little attention. An examination of the systems development literature and the strategic alliance literature suggested a number of issues; these were examined in an exploratory case study. In developing and implementing a collaborative interorganizational system, the traditional combination of an executive sponsor and a project champion appears to be insufficient for providing the necessary leadership. In particular, while some of the management tasks seem to require a sponsor who is external to all the partners, others need the presence of an executive sponsor within each organization. Unfortunately, the establishment of such a team of sponsors is a difficult task. Our case study underlined the importance of the interorganizational teams charged with the development work and the available underlying social and professional networks. It also suggested that the development and implementation process went through various stages during which the major focus and concomitant locus of leadership changed.