Levels, phases and themes of coopetition: A systematic literature review and research agenda

Abstract

There is increasing interest among management scholars in "coopetition", which is simultaneous cooperation and competition between at least two actors. The research interest in coopetition has grown remarkably in the past few years on a variety of levels of analysis, including the intra-firm level, the inter-firm level, and the network level. However, this research has emerged along tracks that are often disconnected in terms of the different levels of analysis, and involves different terminologies, theoretical lenses, and topics. Accordingly, scholars have called for consolidation and synthesis that makes it possible to develop a coherent understanding of the coopetition concept and that reconciles its inherent heterogeneity. In this study, the authors address this issue by means of a systematic literature review that gathers, analyzes, and synthesizes coopetition research. Current knowledge on coopetition is consolidated and presented across multiple levels of analysis along a phase model of coopetition. On the basis of this in-depth review, the authors synthesize a conceptual map that highlights five multilevel research areas: (1) the nature of the relationship, (2) governance and management, (3) the output of the relationship, (4) actor characteristics, and (5) environmental characteristics. The major research themes are identified for each of these areas, enabling the authors to suggest future research avenues.

Analyzing the Coopetition between Tourism and Leisure Suppliers—A Case Study of the Leisure Card Tirol

“…Nevertheless, the low external validity is a drawback of this method [31]. In general, corporations who are part of the tourism industry highly depend on the governmental regulations [11]. Thus, our results are applicable only to a certain degree.…”

The interplay of competition and cooperation

“…Similarly, research on the implications of coopetition for innovation and performance underscores the merits of cooperation, echoing the literature on value creation in alliances, with only a few studies acknowledging some boundary conditions. Even though research on coopetition has made some strides in juxtaposing competition and cooperation, this fragmented literature has been struggling to reach consensus concerning the definition and characteristics of this phenomenon (Bengtsson & Raza‐Ullah, ; Bouncken, Gast, Kraus, & Bogers, ; Dorn, Schweiger, & Albers, ).…”

What Makes Coopetition Successful? An Inter-Organizational Side Analysis on Coopetition Critical Success Factors in Oil and Gas Distribution Networks

“…There are scholars [56] emphasizing the role of coopetition on knowledge acquisition and value creation, while others [13] argue that firms' positions within a network influence their coopetitive behaviour. Three prerequisites have to be met to engage in inter-organizational coopetition within a network: complementary resources, compatible network structures, and a balance of competition and cooperation [15,22], while the purpose is to reduce the competitive intensity [57]. However, these must be approached with caution, since they may change over time, whenever the market conditions and the internal needs associated with coopetition change [58].…”

“…The congruence in terms of common goals, coupled with the compatibility of network members, may also prove important, requiring procedures and mechanisms that need to be established and managed according to the need and requirements [69], such as establishing the criteria to select the partners with the purpose of identifying their value-adding potential [35,70] or complementarity in terms of processes, competencies and resources [22,23,71]. The conclusion of these studies is that there are no standard behaviours for inter-organizational relationships to be successful [72].…”

“…Critical Success Factors (CSFs) constitute one such element. Various CSFs are discussed in the literature, factors that determines, influence or are critical for coopetition success [5,[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. However, the body of literature is still small, and the findings are rather eclectic and usually not empirically tested.…”