Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Inter-firm Cross Border Co-opetition: Evidence from a Two-Country Comparison

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
New Challenges in Entrepreneurship and Finance

  • 1886 Accesses

Abstract

The theory and research existing on relationships between competitors concentrates on either competitive relationships or cooperative relationships and broadly argues that one relationship type harms or threatens the other. There has been little empirical research on firms simultaneously involved in and benefitting from cooperation and from competition even though such cases demonstrate both relationship types need simultaneously emphasising. This article aims to ascertain just how firms interrelate with their competitors in terms of the cooperative behaviours in effect when agreeing and implementing innovation based cooperation agreements as well as their respective influences on performance. The empirical data was obtained from a sample of Iberian border firms (Portugal and Spain) belonging to different sectors of activity. The results reflect significant differences in effect between firms from the two different countries as regards co-opetition and competition for innovation and the respective resulting performance levels. Portuguese firms display a positive relationship between the various types of innovation and the modes of cooperation with clients and competitors (co-opetition). In the case of Spanish firms, the effects of cooperation on innovation prove negative. Furthermore, in terms of financial performance, we find this is influenced neither by the means of cooperation nor by the means of innovation and in both countries.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Abdallh F, Wadhwa A (2009) Collaborating with your rivals: identifying sources of coopetitive performance. Copenhagen Business School. Solbjerg Plads 3. DK2000 Frederiksberg Denmark

    Google Scholar 

  • Achrol RS, Scheer LK, Stern LW (1990) Designing successful transorganizational marketing alliances. Marketing Science Institute, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Aldrich H (1979) Organizations and environments. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs

    Google Scholar 

  • Andresen E (2011) Dressed for success – designing and managing regional strategic networks. Thesis for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Mid Sweden University. Doctoral Thesis 105; ISSN 1652-893X, ISBN 978-91-86694-29-6

    Google Scholar 

  • Arranz N, Arroyabe JCF (2008) The choice of partners in R&D cooperation: an empirical analysis of Spanish firms. Technovation 28:88–100

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barney JB (1991) Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. J Manage 17:99–120

    Google Scholar 

  • Belderbos R, Carree M, Diederen B, Lokshin B, Veugelers R (2004) Heterogeneity in R&D cooperation strategies. Int J Ind Organ 22(8–9):1237–1263

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bengtsson M, Kock S (2000) Coopetition in business networks – to cooperate and compete simultaneously. Ind Market Manage 29(5):411–426

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bengtsson M, Sören KS (2000) Coopetition in business networks – to cooperate and compete simultaneously. Ind Market Manage 29:411–426

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Björn Sven Ivens B, Pardo C, Salle R, Cova B (2009) Relationship keyness: the underlying concept for different forms of key relationship management. Ind Market Manage 38:513–519. doi:10.1016/j.indmarman.2009.05.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bleeke J, Ernst D (1993) Collaborating to compete. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Brandenburger AM, Nalebuff BJ (1995) The right game: use game theory to shape strategy. Harv Bus Rev 73(4):57–71

    Google Scholar 

  • Cannon JP, Homburg C (2001) Buyer–supplier relationships and customer firm costs. J Market 65(1):29–43

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Contractor FJ, Lorange P (1988) Cooperative strategies in international business. Lexington Books, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Deitz G, Tokman M, Richey RG, Morgan R (2010) Joint venture stability and cooperation: direct, indirect and contingent effects of resource complementarity and trust. Ind Market Manage 39:862–873. doi:10.1016/j.indmarman.2010.01.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doz YL, Hamel G (1998) Alliance advantage. Harvard Business School Press, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Dussauge P, Garrette B, Mitchell W (2000) Learning from competing partners: outcomes and durations of scale and link alliances in Europe, North America and Asia. Strateg Manage J 21:99–126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dyer JH, Singh H (1998) The relational view: cooperative strategy and sources of interorganizational competitive advantage. Acad Manage Rev 23(4):660–679

    Google Scholar 

  • Easton G (1992) Industrial networks: a review. In: Axelsson B, Easton G (eds) Industrial networks: a new view of reality. Routledge, London, pp 2–27

    Google Scholar 

  • Elmuti D, Kathawala Y (2001) An overview of strategic alliances. Manage Decis 39(3):205

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fritsch M (2004) Cooperation and the efficiency of regional R&D activities. Camb J Econ 28(6):829–846

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gadde LE, Huumer L, Hakansson H (2003) Stratezgizing in industrial networks. Ind Market Manage 32(5):357–364

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gratton L (2006) Co-operation without frontiers. Bus Strategy Rev 17:65–67

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gulati R, Nohria N, Zaheer A (2000) Strategic networks. Strateg Manage J 21:203–215

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hakansson H, Ford D (2002) How should companies interact in business networks. J Bus Res 55:133–139

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Håkansson H, Snehota I (2002) The IMP perspective: assets and liabilities of business relationships. In: Ford D (ed) Understanding business marketing and purchasing, 3rd edn. Thomson Learning, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamel G, Doz YL, Prahalad CK (1989) Collaborate with your competitors and win. Harv Bus Rev 67(1):133–139

    Google Scholar 

  • Homburg C, Workman JP, Jensen O (2002) A configurational perspective on key account management. J Market 66(2):38–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hunt SD (2000) A general theory of competition: resources, competences, productivity, economic growth. Sage, Thousand Oaks

    Google Scholar 

  • Ingram P, Yue LQ (2008) Structure, affect and identity as bases of organizational competition and cooperation. Acad Manage Ann 2(1):275–303

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johanson J, Vahlne JE (1990) The mechanism of internationalisation. Int Market Rev 7(4):11–24

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jorde JM, Teece DJ (1989) Competition and cooperation: striking the right balance. Calif Manage Rev 31(3):25–37

    Google Scholar 

  • Jorde T, Teece D (1990) Innovation and cooperation: implications from competition and antitrust. J Econ Perpect 4(3):76–96

    Google Scholar 

  • Kale P, Singh H, Perlmutter H (2000) Learning and protection of proprietary assets in strategic alliances: building relational capital. Strateg Manage J 21(3):217–238

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kanter RM (1994) Collaborative advantage. Harv Bus Rev 72(4):96–108

    Google Scholar 

  • Kilburn D (1999) Partnership in cultural turmoil. Market Week 38(15):20–23

    Google Scholar 

  • Lado AA, Boyd NG, Hanlon SC (1997) Competition, cooperation, and the search for economic rents: a syncretic model. Acad Manage Rev 22(1):110–141

    Google Scholar 

  • Li J, Zhong J (2003) Explaining the growth of international R&D alliances in China. Manage Decis Econ 24:101–115

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lundberg H, Andresen E (2011) Cooperation among companies, universities and local government in a Swedish context. Ind Market Manage 41(3):429–437

    Google Scholar 

  • Luo Y (2007) A coopetition perspective of global competition. J World Bus 42:129–144

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mention A-L (2011) Co-operation and co-opetition as open innovation practices in the service sector: which influence on innovation novelty? Technovation 31:44–53. doi:10.1016/j.technovation.2010.08.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mintzberg H, Quinn JB (1991) The strategy process – contexts, concepts, cases, 2nd edn. Prentice Hall, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Naluff B, Brandemburger A (1996) Co-opetition. Harper Collins, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Narula R, Hagedoorn J (1999) Innovation through strategic alliances: moving towards international partnerships and contractual agreements. Technovation 19:283–294

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nieto MJ, Santamaria L (2007) The importance of diverse collaborative networks for the novelty of product innovation. Technovation 27:367–377

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • North D (1990) Institutions, institutional change and economic performance. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Padula G, Dagnino B (2007) Untangling the rise of coopetition: the intrusion of competition in a cooperative game structure. Int Stud Manage Organ 37(2):32–52

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Park SH, Russo MV (1996) When competition eclipses cooperation: an event history analysis of joint venture failure. Manage Sci 42:875–890

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Park S, Ungson G (1997) The effect of partner nationality, organizational dissimilarity, and economic motivation in the dissolution of joint ventures. Acad Manage J 40(2):279–307

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perrow C (1992) Small-firm networks. In: Nohria N, Eccles R (eds) Networks and organizations: structure, form and action. Harvard Business School Press, Boston, pp 111–137

    Google Scholar 

  • Porter ME (1980) Competitive strategy. Free Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Porter ME (1985) Competitive advantage. Free Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Porter M (1998) Clusters and the new economics of competition. Harv Bus Rev 76(6):77–90

    Google Scholar 

  • Pothukuchi V, Damanpour F, Choi J, Chen CC, Park SH (2002) National and organizational culture differences and international joint venture performance. J Int Bus 33(2):243–265

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quintana-García C, Benavides-Velasco CA (2004) Cooperation, competition, and innovative capability: a panel data of European dedicated biotechnology firms. Technovation 24:927–938

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rindfleisch A, Moorman C (2001) The acquisition and utilization of information in new product alliances: a strength-of-ties perspective. J Market 65(2):1–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ritala P, Hurmelinna-Laukkanen P (2009) What’s in it for me? Creating and appropriating value in innovation-related coopetition. Technovation 29(2009):819–828. doi:10.1016/j.technovation.2009.07.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rusko R (2011) Exploring the concept of coopetition: a typology for the strategic moves of the finish forest industry. Ind Market Manage 40:311–320

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sarkar MB, Echambadi R, Harrison JS (2001) Alliance entrepreneurship and firm market performance. Strateg Manage J 22(6–7):701–711

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sirmon DG, Lane PJ (2004) A model of cultural differences and international alliance performance. J Int Stud 35(4):306–319

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith DJ (2003) Strategic alliances and competitive strategies in the European aerospace industry: the case of BMW Rolls-Royce GmbH. Eur Bus Rev 15(4):407–428

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Speckbacher G (2010) The effect of interorganizational trust on make-or-cooperate decisions: disentangling opportunism-dependent and opportunism-independent effects of trust. Eur Manage Rev 7(2):101–115

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steensma KR, Marino L, Weaver KM, Dickson HP (2000) The influence of national culture on the formation of technology alliances entrepreneurial firms. Acad Manage J 43(5):951–973

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stuart TE (2000) International alliances and the performance of firms: a study of growth and innovation rates in a high-technology industry. Strateg Manage J 21:791–811

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tether BS (2002) Who co-operates for innovation, and why: an empirical analysis. Res Policy 31:947–967

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Todeva E, Knoke D (2005) Strategic alliances and models of collaboration. Manage Decis 43(1):123–126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wagner SM, Johnson JL (2004) Configuring and managing strategic supplier portfolios. Ind Market Manage 33(8):717–730

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • William T (2005) Cooperation by design: structures and cooperation in inter organizational networks. J Bus Res 58(2):233–261

    Google Scholar 

  • Williamson O (1979) Transaction costs economics: the governance of contractual relations. J Law Econ 22:233–262

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. NECE – Research Unit in Business Sciences, University of Beira Interior, Covilhã, Portugal

    João J. M. Ferreira, Mário L. Raposo & Cristina I. Fernandes

Authors
  1. João J. M. Ferreira
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mário L. Raposo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Cristina I. Fernandes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to João J. M. Ferreira .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Business Administration, Universitat Politècnica de València, Valencia, Spain

    Marta Peris-Ortiz

  2. Ipag Paris, Paris, France

    Jean-Michel Sahut

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Ferreira, J.J.M., Raposo, M.L., Fernandes, C.I. (2015). Inter-firm Cross Border Co-opetition: Evidence from a Two-Country Comparison. In: Peris-Ortiz, M., Sahut, JM. (eds) New Challenges in Entrepreneurship and Finance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08888-4_3

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation