Coopetition Strategy

In management literature the hybrid behavior comprising competition and cooperation has been named coopetition. Whereas a number of authors (Brandenburger & Nalebuff, 1996; Lado, Boyd & Hanlon, 1997; Gnyawali & Madhavan, 2001) have recently emphasized the increasing importance of coopetition for today’s interfirm dynamics, scientific investigation on the issue of coopetition has not gone much farther beyond naming, claiming or evoking it. Therefore, whilst, on one hand, we acknowledge the weaknesses of conventional approaches, on the other, we underline that coopetition is clearly an underresearched theme. The purpose of this paper is threefold. First, by proposing a first definition of coopetiton, it aims to move away from the mere recognition of the oversimplified conventional conception to a deeper understanding of the nature of coopetition. By suggesting that coopetition is a matter of “incomplete interest (and goal) congruence” concerning firms’ interdependence, we stress that coopetition does not simply emerge from coupling competition and cooperation issues, but rather it implies that cooperation and competition merge together to form a new kind of strategic interdependence between firms, giving rise to a coopetitive system of value creation. Second, we advance a typology of coopetition based on the differing explanatory variables of this incomplete interest (and goal) congruence. Third, with the support of a number of coopetition microcases, especially referring to firms operating in the automobile industry, we clarify the contribution and the potential of coopetition strategy to the advancement of both strategic management, organization theory and managerial practice.