Managing complexity in industrial collaborations

Joining collaborations and maintaining relationships has become a major concern for managers in industrial companies. This change, to a large extent, arises due to the globalization of markets and the ongoing specialization of companies, fostered by the possibilities of information technology and data-communication. However, such a structural change requires adaptations by companies to fit the characteristics of industrial collaborations. In particular, the increasing complexity of collaborations in highly dynamic environments oftentimes is underestimated. This paper demonstrates an approach to cope with this increasing complexity and to find an adequate - not necessarily minimum - level of complexity by the application of principles of complex systems from various sciences to industrial collaborations, considered as socio-technical systems. The industrial relevance of this research approach is illustrated through the example of the tool and die industry.