To work against threats and to obtain new possibilities, new forms of inter-organizational collaborations are formed. The management literature deals mainly with one single organization although aspects of collaborative processes are discussed. In this paper problems with inter-organizational management and decision-making are discussed. In this paper the possibilities and the limits of using the Viable System Model (VSM) for diagnosing and design of inter-organizations are discussed. The conclusion is that VSM seems to be promising but further evaluation must be performed. Organizational learning and negotiation support systems are approaches that should be used in inter-organizational management.