Maneuvering the Unknown through Collaboration - A qualitative study on how startups and established firms collaborate to manage uncertainty

Sammanfattning: Organizations continuously face uncertainty in their internal and external environment. Through a qualitative cross-sectional study, the study aims to describe how established firms and startups collaborate to manage uncertainty, including the perspectives of both startups and established firms. The sample includes a total of nine respondents, of whom six respondents are from startups, and three are from established firms. To understand and analyze the findings of the study, The Resource Dependence Theory, The Theory of the Growth of the Firm, Institutional Environment, Isomorphism, and Podolny's theory Market Uncertainty and the Social Character of Economic Exchange are used. By including various perspectives, in terms of both startups and established firms, and different theoretical viewpoints, the study deepens the understanding of how collaborations between startups and established firms can manage uncertainty. The analysis finds multiple ways on how startups and established firms collaborate to manage uncertainty, namely by exchanging critical resources, collaboration diversification, and long-term collaboration. In turn, this thesis contributes to inform both startups and established firms which methods to advocate in existing collaborations to yield competitive advantage and to sustain, but also facilitate in making future collaborations more efficient.