Coopetition is the combination of cooperation and competition, where competing companies benefit from shared information and strategic partnerships to increase survival, profitability, and competitive advantage. It is not about diminishing competition, but rather creating greater profits and lifelong competitors. Examples include Apple and Microsoft’s ongoing engagements. Coopetition is also used in school settings to encourage cooperation and competition.
The term coopetition (coopetition) is a combination of the words cooperation and competition. It is the concept that competing companies sometimes benefit from cooperation so that each gains greater ability to compete in the market. Often this idea is used in technological fields where shared information can improve products and provide some economic and competitive benefits to all sharers. This is opposed to commercial practices, where all information and technology is strictly protected and proprietary and where market competition becomes a zero-sum game. Instead, coopetition, which can also be called a strategic partnership, provides the opportunity for competing companies to create win-win scenarios that increase survival, profitability and competitive advantage.
Coopetition has been used as an economic and business term since the early 20th century, but the name gained more popular use in the 1990s book, Coopetition, written by Adam Brandenburger of the Harvard Business School and Barry Nalebuff of the Yale School of Management. The book draws on game theory and numerous examples to argue that companies in direct competition can benefit from shared information or partnership on some issues. This does not mean that companies give up competing with each other, but they help to strengthen themselves, so that each one gains equal competitiveness and produces better products or services.
An example of this was the ongoing engagements between Apple and Microsoft. Although these companies have a legendary rivalry with each other, they both create some software for each other. An Apple user can choose to use Microsoft Word on their computer. A Microsoft operating system has access to iTunes. Likewise, Apple now uses Intel microprocessors in many of its computers, making it a faster computer that better competes with multiple PCs.
The goal of coopetition is never to diminish the competition. Rather, it increases because companies use shared information or access to make their products and services more attractive. When companies choose these opportunities to help each other, they support each other’s existence. Rather than creating winners and losers, the goal is to create greater profits and lifelong competitors. Cooperation and competition combined are considered much more positive for all involved.
On a micro scale, this concept is sometimes used in school settings. Students may be asked to work together, but each student receives an individual grade, which is essentially a competition. For the best benefit, two students would like to work together, each contributing their best work to a project. When successful, both students can leave with a good grade. If there is only competition, both students could end up as losers. In coopetition, the desire to compete feeds the spirit of cooperation.
Asset Smart.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
