Investigations into the internal operation of inter-organizational networks have become increasingly common in the literature over the last few years. Nevertheless, empirical studies are still relatively rare. The void is even more striking in the case of networks set up by small firms. The objective was to identify and characterize the coordination mechanisms and their different forms, and also to better understand how they evolve. Three main dimensions had an effect on coordination: hub firm dependency, existence of prior business relations, and type of conflict. Our empirical analysis of six innovation networks analyzed how these three dimensions influenced the type of coordination form used by the hub firm. The manner through which coordination mechanisms are implemented evolved according to the type of interactions established between partners and to the emergence - or not - of conflict. The implications of these results are discussed.
