Book Reviews / 501 dination, antecedants of interorganizational coordination, and a series of mesoand macrolevel concepts. The breadth of the topic, the sheer number of related concepts, the noncumulative nature of previous research, and the author's eclectic and superficial treatment of underlying theories render the first part of the book opaque and, at times, bewildering. Chapter 1 presents a superficial review of basic theory in which exchange theory and organizational ecology are presented as strawmen before presentation of transaction cost analysis. Unfortunately, Alexander cites only himself in the section on transaction costs and, worse, his work on the use of transaction cost analysis for planning. Chapter 2, even worse, contains an interesting laundry list of facilitators and constraints on interorganizational coordination with almost no references at all.
The final two chapters seek to integrate the array of material offered through concepts and cases. The key findings? ''Interorganizational coordination, then, is a set of organizations' recognition and management of their interdependence, by creating or using IOC [interorganizational coordination] structures to decide on their actions together'' (p. 271). Alexander recognizes, but trips on, the slipperiness of the term ''coordination'' ''. . . This view does not associate IOC with successful outcomes; rather, action is coordinated if it is the result of intended coordination'' (p. 271). The trick, of course, is to define interorganizational coordination without reference to the results of coordination.
For practitioners, the lessons are clear and few. Assess first whether there exists interdependence among the organizations that are supposed to coordinate their actions. Organizations that are not interdependent, or that fail to recognize their interdependence, will not coordinate their actions. The author then prescribes that designers determine the proper fit of interorganizational coordination structures to a particular set of organizations.
Interorganizational coordination is a theoretical construct that demands great scholarly care and rigor. A volume of theory on the subject would be a difficult one to write. The author presents both theory and practice, an even more difficult task-and a laudable one given the importance of the topic.