A Knowledge-Based View of Inter-Firm Interlock Coordination

In this chapter, we firstly focus on the topic of our work, which is grounded in the knowledge-based view of the firm and inter-firm relationships. Still in the introductory part, we clarify what is out of our scope and then, having set some boundaries, we outline the four research fields that do converge to build our research object. Right after, we briefly introduce them in the four following sections. Then, we shortly comment some of the papers, which help to understand board interlocksBoard interlocks (BINT) as forms of coordination enabling knowledgeKnowledge creation/sharing/transfer between organizations: this is what we call the knowledge-based view of inter-firm interlock coordination. Next, we introduce the reader not only to the issue of interlocking directorates, but also to that of shared managers across companies’ departments and that of hybrid manager–director coordination roles: two phenomena substantially neglected so far, but indeed constituting fundamental means of operative and strategic coordinationStrategic coordination that accompany or often substitute board interlocksBoard interlocks (BINT). Finally, we briefly address to the antitrustAntitrust literature and the standard economics view of board interlocks.