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This paper considers two issues: the formation of inter-firm relationships, and the choice of governance form. These have been widely investigated in both the strategic management and operations management fields. This paper contributes to the literature in three ways. First, we address why firms enter inter-firm relationships by hypothesizing that managers enter them to pursue three strategic needs, that is: efficiency/effectiveness, knowledge/learning, and global market access. Our first contribution evidences the relationship between the above strategic needs and a number of operational objectives that managers normally pursue in an inter-firm relationship. Second, we hypothesize how the achievement of the above strategic needs influences the choice of governance form. Third, we compare our framework with the operations management approach to strategic networks by evidencing similarities between the …