buyback a means of securing a contract--one party agrees to buy back a portion of the transaction between two parties






contracts agreements to carry out certain transactions

corporate culture a set of collectively held values, beliefs, and norms of behavior among members of a firm that influence individual behaviors






downstream an activity that uses a firm's output as inputs into its own production






hostages a means of ensuring that one party to a transaction carries out the transaction






make-or-buy decision the decision whether to carry out an activity in-house or to purchase the activity in the market

matrix an organizational structure designed to ensure efficient communication among disparate units

M-form, multidivisional form an organizational structure designed to enable specialization






network a situation in which activities carried out by groups of people or firms using a specific technology have lower costs than if each person or firm uses different technologies






self-managed team a workplace organization designed to enlist the benefits of teamwork






team a popular means of organizing the workplace--having output produced by groups or individuals

transaction costs costs involved in carrying out a transaction






U-form, unitary form, functional form organizational form or structure of a firm that enables just one activity

upstream the firm that is a supplier to another firm






vertical integration occurs when a firm that is a supplier to another firm is merged with the second firm