Does intra-firm coopetition work in practice? : A qualitative study of the dynamic relationship of intra-firm competition in the context of organizations based on projects

Abstract: Research on the phenomenon of coopetition described as two competing firms cooperating with the intent to create value have seen a great increase the last couple of years. However, studies exploring intra-firm coopetition have been less popular leaving this research field understudied and in need for further exploration. An intra-firm competition relationship can be defined as when two or more project teams cooperate on a joint project, simultaneously as they are competing for their parents’ firms’ resources. Pursuing such a contradictory relationship is not without challenges and therefore, cooperative and competitive activities needs to be balanced in order to achieve value creation. In the context of an organization based on projects, the dynamic relationship of coopetition poses several challenges for project managers to handle. The purpose of the study was to further generate and assist the development of the theory field of coopetition by gaining a deeper understanding of the coopetitive dynamics on an intra-firm level. In this thesis, we explore How is intra-firm coopetition perceived and handled in order to create value within an organization? By conducting semi-structured interviews, seven project team members from three different organizations in the automobile industry ecosystem, shared their experiences of working project based and being exposed to intra-firm coopetition on daily basis. Our findings suggest that intra-firm coopetition needs to be balanced to support value creation. The analysis of the study was conducted by a project-as-practice lens which supported the understanding of cooperative and competitive activities that the project teams participated in. The respondents perceived cooperative activities as beneficial for organizational learning and stressed the importance of social interactions between project teams. On the other hand, competitive activities were perceived as positive as long as they were held on a healthy level and did not become dominant. Our study advances the research field of intra-firm coopetition by gaining knowledge of underlying factors of cooperative and competitive activities that are sources for tension, and how reaching and maintaining a state of balance is crucial for value creation both for the project team, organization and customer. Keywords: Coopetition, Intra-firm coopetition, project-based organizations, and projects-as-practice.