Information technology for inter-organisational systems: some evidence with case studies

The evolution in inter-organizational agreements is becoming increasingly s ignificant since the 1980s. This applies equally to the rural sector, where the need for establishing cooperation agreements between farmers and the a gribusiness industry has also come to the fore. This work aims at describin g, on the one hand, the situation of a growers' association and its coopera tive links with the food industry; and, on the other, the way negotiations take place whenever growers do not act in association. Information technolo gy is a good alternative in order to improve this kind of cooperation, as i t enhances communication between the two parties and induces a sharing of a dded value among growers and the agribusiness industry, that is whenever th is technology is implemented by farmers. Otherwise, when information techno logy is adopted only by industry, its bargaining power increases unilateral ly. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.