The Effect of Coopetitive Interactions on Performance Outcomes : A Two-Sided Perspective on Dyadic Coopetitive Relationships

Abstract: The business environment has become increasingly complex and dynamic in recent years, requiring companies to compete in a fast-developing and fast-changing environment. In order for companies to maintain sustained competitive advantage and success, they increasingly engage in various forms of inter-organizational alliances, which enable the creation of value. Value creation through alliances is often seen as a result of a purely collaborative behavior however, it can also result from the presence of collaboration and competition simultaneously. Thus, one form of inter-organizational alliances that has become increasingly popular both scientifically and practically in the last two decades is coopetition, the paradoxical relationship that arises when two or more companies cooperate and compete with each other at the same time. We have detected three gaps in previous research on coopetition. Firstly, previous research has lacked to look at coopetitive interactions and their effects. Secondly, research has lacked to empirically investigate negative outcomes of coopetition. Thirdly, research has lacked to examine a two-sided perception of specific dyadic coopetitive relationships and their coopetitive interactions with regard to performance outcomes. This research gaps motivated us to find answers to the following research question:  “How do coopetitive interactions in a dyadic coopetitive relationship affect the performance outcomes of both partners in this relationship?” As such, the purpose of the study is to explore the effect of coopetitive interactions on performance outcomes from a two-sided perspective in a dyadic coopetitive relationship. This further means exploring how coopetitive interactions occur, how such interactions impact performance outcomes, and what factors influence these coopetitive interactions. In order to realize the research purpose consisting of four objectives, we conducted a qualitative study in form of semi-structured in-depth interviews with ten companies from different industries located in Sweden. This enabled us to get one two-sided perspective from two coopeting partners of the same coopetitive relationship and beyond some one-sided perspectives that still provided perceptions for both sides of the coopetitive relationship. The findings and analysis show that the customer plays a central role in the decision for two companies to form a coopetitive relationship and engage in coopetition either out of mutual consent or out of force. Depending on if the customer has an unsought influence or a forcing influence on the decision to engage in coopetition, the interactions can be either cooperation- or competition-dominated. This further influences the degree of tensions, which are created internally, and these tensions influence the degree of reciprocity, which will ultimately affects the respective performance outcomes for both companies in the dyadic coopetitive relationship. Furthermore, we have figured out that these coopetitive interactions can be affected by a combination of managerial capabilities (proactivity, management frameworks) and social capabilities (commitment, trust, transparency, openness). As a result, we derived propositions and developed a conceptual model illustrating this process for validation in further research.