The theory of coordination across networks provides the theoretical basis to explain how
companies of the same supply network can overcome their organisational boundaries and
constraints to jointly manage business processes whose activities are worked out by different
interacting units. In particular, this paper analyses the Collaborative Planning Forecasting and
Replenishment (CPFR) process, which requires individual members of the supply network to
participate in decisions on the demand that will drive their activities. By discussing three case
studies of CPFR implementation in supply networks of different industries - i.e.
pharmaceutical, automotive and mechanical - the paper provides a theoretical model that
contributes to explaining the relations between inter-firm coordination mecha nisms and types
of interdependence among the actors involved in CPFR implementation.
