In Bed with the Enemy

The traditional focus of companies has been on competition. However, increasingly companies understand that it may be in their best interest to collaborate with their competitors. What drives a company to collaborate with competitors, and what are the potential benefits and pitfalls? Under what conditions should the company pursue a business opportunity on its own? These are questions we try to address in this pattern language. We aim to understand the forces underlying business collaboration. These patterns are inspired by the insight that companies may need to collaborate with other companies whom, in the traditional sense of doing business, they would have treated as competitors.