Publishable summary: Although managing inter-organizational relationships is key in business transactions, this remains understudied within Industrial Symbiosis (IS) domain. Moreover, there are multiple types of industrial symbiosis relationships that might have different prerequisites, attributes and outcomes which pinpoint the need to understand how to successfully manage different types of IS relationships. Therefore, the subject of this deliverable is to study and provide guidance to business agreements governing IS relationships to assist successful emergence and development of IS-cases. The study is based on theory about inter-organizational relationships and its different components and data collected through multiple interviews.
More specifically, ten example cases of successful IS relationships are presented and analysed in detail to provide valuable input to Coralis partners. The cases are used to evaluate contractual and relational agreements in multiple dimensions, to assess their realised or potential impacts, and to highlight key strengths and weaknesses of different arrangements. By synthesising the case data with theory, a framework is developed which aims to guide the readers on managing IS relationships with low-, medium- or high- levels of inter-organisational engagement. Numerous key points to consider on how to manage various characteristics of IS relationships though contractual and relational arrangements are provided in the report. This includes conclusions on ownership, responsibilities, liabilities, determination and management of supply and demand risks as well as mitigation measures. Further suitable potential compensation schemes defining compensatory measures when any of the points of agreement between the parties are not fulfilled are discussed. Additionally, based on the whole body of collected cases, general contractual templates are proposed that can to guide actors when setting up industrial symbiosis agreements with a low-, medium- or high-level of inter-organisational engagement.
Relatedly, the main outcomes of this report include:
• IS case examples with different characteristics and associated business agreements;
• a framework for categorisation and assessment of IS relationships with low-, medium- and high-levels of inter-organisational engagement;
• the key points to consider on how to manage various characteristics of IS relationships, and;
• the general contractual templates can be used by companies that would like to enter an industrial symbiosis relationship with one or several partners.
These outcomes are relevant to companies within and outside Coralis consortia, as well as facilitators on the local, regional, and national levels seeking to know more about the contractual and relational dimensions of relationship governance, which usually takes place behind closed doors. Finally, due to the scarcity of academic publications on these issues, researchers can also benefit from the findings of this deliverable.
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