Governing digital collaboration: Reducing interpretive uncertainty with system integrators

As manufacturing firms adopt digital technologies to improve efficiency, they increasingly collaborate with system integrators to compensate for internal capability gaps. Such collaborations, however, are prone to interpretive uncertainty—cognitive misalignments about goals, processes, and technologies—that complicate coordination and value creation. This study examines how governance mechanisms shape the performance implications of these collaborations by analyzing survey data from 101 Italian automotive manufacturers. Focusing on two relational governance practices—co-creation and continuous collaboration—and two types of digital technologies—network and physical–digital interface technologies—we find that governance effectiveness is strongly contingent on technological characteristics. Co-creation is associated with lower cost efficiency when applied to more standardized physical–digital interface technologies, whereas relational governance is associated with higher cost efficiency in more systemically integrative digital initiatives involving network technologies. These findings advance research on inter-organizational governance and digital transformation by demonstrating how governance–technology alignment shapes operational outcomes and by highlighting the underexplored role of system integrators in manufacturing digitalization. The study also offers managers and policymakers guidance on tailoring governance to technological and relational contexts to support effective digital adoption.