A coopetition perspective of global competition

This article elucidates an increasingly prevalent facet of global competition: simultaneous competition and cooperation between global rivals (i.e., coopetition). In order to develop an overall framework to analyze coopetition, this article explains why coopetition occurs, discusses situations in which cooperation or competition increases or decreases in a coopetition scheme, and presents a typology for understanding the intensity and diversity of coopetition with major global rivals. The typology of the intensity of coopetition identifies four situations (contending, isolating, partnering, and adapting) to describe the varying degrees of cooperation and competition between a pair of global rivals. To capture the diversity of coopetition, this article also identifies four positions (dispersing, concentrating, connecting, and networking), depending on the number of global rivals and the number of international markets the firm involves in coopetition. The article provides several broad guidelines for building coopetition relationships.