An explicative model of ‘public’ interorganizational interactions

This paper investigates the possible effects of an existing meta-object for actors of different organizations and proposes a model of IS which permits the outlining of an integrated representation of a variety of simultaneous processes.

Abstract

This paper investigates the possible effects of an existing meta-object for actors of different organizations. A meta-object relies on 'complex' multiple organization processes. It favours the development of a 'public' interaction space (IS), i.e. an interorganizational informal structure which facilitates communication; actor interactions are possible in an IS and can be regulated both to integrate and legitimate behaviour and to reduce some actors' uncertainty. A model of IS is presented with an example of application. The model permits the outlining of an integrated representation of a variety of simultaneous processes. In the interaction with a client, it may be used both for interpretative purposes and to support the identification of 'coherent' behaviour. The use of the model in a real case is also discussed.