E-Collaboration in Interorganizational Networks: A Literature Review and an Agenda for Future Research

Since the importance of external resources and interfirm collaboration for firms´ competitive success continues to grow dramatically, research on interorganizational relationships has become prominent in business and IS research. Over the past two decades, interorganizational networks in particular have been widely recognized by both academics and practitioners as an important form of multi-organizational governance. E-collaboration and the continual progress of the underlying information and communication technologies play a fundamental role in the functioning of those networks. Nevertheless, the understanding of this area remains limited. This systematic literature review provides an overview that structures the efforts in the field of e-collaboration in the context of networks. We analyze the existing literature by using a concept matrix and reveal gaps in research. The results indicate growing interest in the IS community and provide five promising directions for future research.