Exploring the inter-organizational relationship performance: evidence from social-oriented market

The inter-organizational relationships are a key pillar of service sectors to drive them to work together to resolve complex problems in an uncertain environment. However, it is still unclear why the travel companies engage in IRs and what factors drive inter-organizational relationship performance (IRP). Resource dependence theory was adopted to explore the characteristics of travel companies and their partners in IRP framework. Data was collected from the in-depth interviews with senior executives of travel companies (n = 11) and a self-administered questionnaire to collect 319 cases, a quantitative approach was utilized to test the research hypotheses by using the PLS-SEM technique. The results indicated that commitment, coordination, trust, and frequency of interaction affect IRP between travel companies and their partners, it suggests they actively work to engage in IRs to achieve effectiveness. Surprisingly, no differences were found in communication, flexibility, and participation influence IRP. The results highlight the importance of tourism collaboration and find the reasons for forming the relationships to increase the control of the uncertainty of the environment, build strategies to respond to the crisis and maintain the tourism performance of IRs and management strategies.