These mechanisms create a negotiated environment . Useful when coordination is not needed all the time. Useful when merger is not feasible. However, control is less secure than in the case of a merger. Much of the negotiated environment consists of organizational linkages .
Organizational linkages are a form of networking, and provide the benefits all networks offer.
One part of the negotiated environment is shared social norms. Obviously, managers cannot simply create a normative environment. But they must respond to the existing one, and perhaps attempt to influence it. Joint ventures are a mechanism for explicit interorganizational cooperation. They are likely to occur under conditions of intermediate industry concentration, which is where uncertainty is highest.