Effect of Formal Contracts, Relational Norms and Trust on Performance of Joint Research and Development Projects
研究了正式合同、关系规范和信任三种治理机制对探索型和利用型联合研发项目绩效的影响，发现它们互补作用，但合同更利于利用型项目，关系规范和信任更利于探索型项目。
This paper examines the effect of governance mechanisms – formal contracts, relational norms and trust – on the performance of exploration and exploitation joint research and development ( R&D ) projects. While the authors acknowledge the need for a twofold approach, transactional and relational, to understand the interfirm exchange governance, the joint action of formal contracts and relational governance has been caught between the complementary or substitutive forces involved in interorganizational relationships. Using survey data on joint exploration and exploitation R&D projects developed by the European biotechnology companies, the synergies of both mechanisms and their effects in improving project performance are investigated. The analysis suggests that contracts and relational norms and trust act as complementary mechanisms, but while contracts are more effective in exploitation projects, relational norms and trust are more powerful in improving the performance of exploration projects.