WITHDRAWAL OF COOPERATION IN INTERORGANIZATIONAL NETWORKS: REFLECTIONS INSPIRED BY THE WEBERIAN SOCIAL ACTION

ABSTRACT

Studies of cooperation in interorganizational networks tend to focus on the reasons why organizations enter into cooperative relations and the development of metrics to evaluate their outcomes, with little theoretical or empirical attention being given to the reasons for withdrawal of cooperation. In this sense, the objective of the study is to describe the rationale underlying the reasons for the withdrawal by business leaders to maintain participation in interorganizational networks. To this end, a review of the topics of cooperation mechanisms and withdrawal of cooperation in interorganizational networks was carried, as well as of the reasons or types of rationality present in the social sphere decisions based on Weber's typology of social action. The logic of this construction is to highlight the reasons mentioned by the national and international literature for the withdrawal and to provide a theoretical basis for understanding this type of rationality in decisions to withdraw cooperation. Content analysis was used for treatment of the corpus composed of articles published in events and national journals, dissertations, and theses, which resulted in 10 Brazilian empirical studies carried out between 2003 and 2013 dealing with the withdrawal of cooperation by members of interorganizational networks. To identify these studies, we consulted articles with respect to the withdrawal of cooperation included in the Brazilian portals for scientific journals scielo.org and Periódicos Capes. Results showed the presence of evaluative substantive rationality in addition to instrumental formal rationality in the reports of cooperation withdrawal in the studies consulted. In particular, cultural conflict or shock among members of interorganizational networks was found to be the major reason for the withdrawal of cooperation. These results point to the theoretical importance of including cultural studies among those already used, due to their relevance to the understanding of phenomena related to current management technologies, in order to provide theoretical and analytical support for comprehension of cooperation in interorganizational networks which emphasize a linear and prescriptive view, as for the rational and economic paradigma. In this sense, the study contributes to advancing the discussion about the withdrawal of cooperation in networks by addressing the urgency of new theoretical perspectives in regards to the theme of evaluative substantial rationality with a focus on cultural approach.

Interorganizational networks; Withdrawal of cooperation; Weberian social action; Evaluative substantial rationality; Cultural approach