The emerging role of coopetition within inter-firm relationships

• Published date: 13 May 2019
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJLM-02-2018-0021
• Pages: 414-437
• Date: 13 May 2019
• Author: Zach Zacharia,Michael Plasch,Usha Mohan,Markus Gerschberger
• Subject Matter: Management science & operations

The emerging role of coopetition

within inter-firm relationships

Zach Zacharia

Faculty of Management, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA

Michael Plasch

University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria Logistikum, Steyr, Austria

Usha Mohan

Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India, and

Markus Gerschberger

University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria Logistikum, Steyr, Austria

Abstract

Purpose –Increasing environmental uncertainty, more demanding customers, rapid technological growth

and rising capital costs have all forced firms to evolve from collaborating with buyers and suppliers to

collaborating with their competitors and that is called coopetition. The purpose of this paper is to better

understand the antecedents and outcomes associated with coopetition.

Design/methodology/approach –Building from the existing literature and three theoretical foundations,

resource-based theory, resource dependence theory and game theory, the authors develop a model

showing the antecedents and outcomes of coopetition and associated propositions of coopetition. Using a

semi-structured interview process of 21 industry executives, the authors offer empirical support for the

proposed coopetition model and propositions.

Findings –Firms are increasingly dependent on the knowledge and expertise in external organizations to

innovate, solve problems and improve supply chain performance. This research suggests that there is a value

for firms to consider coopetition as a part of their inter-firm strategies.

Research limitations/implications –The semi-structured interview process used in this research

provided a wealth of information and executive experiences in coopetition. The interviews, however, only

provide a single perspective of collaborative engagements with competitors. Multiple perspectives of each

project would add value to this research.

Originality/value –Collaborationamong buyers and suppliershave been well researched;however, there has

not been as much researchon coopetition. This research providesa new area for future research for academics

and offers suggestionsfor managers to improve the effectivenessand efficiency of their coopetition projects.

Keywords Strategic management, Asia, Case study, Buyer–supplier relationships, Supplier management

Paper type Research paper

Introduction

Over the past decade, coopetition (the ability to cooperate with competitors) has risen in

importance because of the increasing rate of technological change, resource shortages,

unstable economic developments and current challenges of globalization (Bouncken et al.,

2016; Gast et al.,2015). Coopetition can be viewed as an opportunity to increase the size of the

market by cooperating with competitors instead of competing for a larger individual firm

market share. Historically, coopetition research has focused on coopetition in different

contexts such as a paradox( Bengtsson et al., 2010; Gnyawali and Song, 2016),as a paradigm

(Bengtsson et al., 2010; Kuhn, 1996; Padula and Dagnino, 2007) and as a phenomenon

(Czakon and Rogalski, 2014; Raza-Ullah et al., 2014; Bouncken et al., 2016). Coopetition

research is also viewed as particularly important and valuable as it ranked 6th out of

35 possible areas that are under-researched in supply chain management (SCM)

(Wieland et al., 2016). By better understanding coopetition, the existing knowledge on

supply chain relationships can be enhanced. Supply chain scholars have started to embrace

the idea of coopetition in supplier networks, but have mainly looked at the phenomenon

The International Journal of

Logistics Management

Vol. 30 No. 2, 2019

pp. 414-437

© Emerald PublishingLimited

0957-4093

DOI 10.1108/IJLM-02-2018-0021

Received 2 March 2018

Revised 26 September 2018

23 January 2019

25 February 2019

Accepted 25 February 2019

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

www.emeraldinsight.com/0957-4093.htm

414

IJLM

30,2

from a structural per spective (Choi and Wu, 2 009; Pathak et al., 2014; Schmoltzi and

Wallenburg, 2011). We view coopetition as a new form of inter-firm relationshipsthat should

be a regular part of a firm’sstrategy in this current highly competitive environment.To enable

firms to better utilize coopetition as a possible business strategy, this research seeks to

identify theantecedents that lead firmsto consider a coopetition projectand the outcomes of a

coopetition project.

We develop our theoretical framework using resource-based theory (RBT), resource

dependence theory (RDT) and game theory (GT). On the basis of the existing literature, we

identify five constructs that characterize a coopetition model and develop supporting

propositions. We then offer further empirical evidence gathered from structured interviews

(see “Interview Guide”provided in the Appendix) of 21 senior managers involved in three

different industries that have direct experience in a coopetition project to validate our model.

Our results indeed support the concept of the increasing value of coopetition as a new form

of collaboration and inter-firm strategy going forward. Additionally, these findings provide

important implications for researchers as they study coopetition, as well as practitioners

regarding their use and expectations of coopetition projects. We focused on the following

research questions:

RQ1. What factors in the external business environment has led to an increase in

coopetition projects?

RQ2. What are the outcomes of a coopetition project?

Theoretical background

Before analyzing coopetition in detail, it is useful to distinguish coopetition from horizontal

alliances or horizontal collaboration. Alliances share many similar characteristics to

coopetition but there are differences such as alliances do not have to include competitors,

they do not have to have high levels of mutual trust and engagement, typically are not a

one-time project and there is no need for both cooperative and competitive relations

(Kozyra, 2012). Alliances are the same as coopetition if the members of the alliance

simultaneously compete in one market and cooperate in another. Bengtsson and Kock (1999)

noted that coopetition is one specific type of horizontal relationship next to “cooperation”,

“competition”and “coexistence.”Differences between these types of horizontal relationships

have more to do with the strategic or project aim (e.g. object-oriented or environmental

goals) (Bengtsson and Kock, 1999). Horizontal relationships can be identified as more

complex and dynamic than vertical ones and, therefore, extremely difficult to manage

(Choi and Hong, 2002). Firms in the context of combining complementary resources

(e.g. a partner’s financial ability meets superior technologies of the other) often form

alliances in order to share costs and risks to cope with high technological uncertainty.

However, these alliances do not have to be with competitors, and relationships with

competitors bring unique challenges that require additional research and understanding.

While alliances are often connected to formal agreements (Bengtsson and Kock, 1999), they

differ from coopetitive relationships as the competitive dynamism in coopetition leads

involved firms to capture the highest value individually (Ritala and Hurmelinna-Laukkanen,

2009). Morris et al. (2007) put the purpose of each alliance partner in focus as to either

contributing similar resources (scale alliance) or involve further partners to contribute

different types of resources (link alliance) (Morris et al., 2007). Coopetition evolvement and

the relevance of the organizations that look externally beyond their own boundaries are

indicated by the fact that company’s collaborative relations –either in alliances or more

informal structures –tend to happen between firms within the same industry, i.e., among

competitors (Harbison and Pekar, 1998; Gnyawali et al., 2007).

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The emerging

role of

coopetition