Coopetition

Coopetition or Co-opetition is a neologism coined to describe cooperative competition. Co-opetition occurs when companies work together for parts of their business where they do not believe they have competitive advantage, and where they believe they can share common costs. For instance, the cooperation between Peugeot and Toyota on shared components for a new city car for Europe in 2005. In this case, companies will save money on shared costs, while remaining fiercely competitive in other areas. For co-opetition to work, companies need to very clearly define where they are working together, and where they are competing.

The word coopetition has been re-coined several times:

• In 1913, by the Sealshipt Oyster System^[1]
• In 1937, by Rockwell D. Hunt^[2]
• In around 1992 by Raymond Noorda to characterize Novell's business strategy.^[3]

The word only became widely used in the 1990's.

Notes

1. ^ Paul Terry Cherington, Advertising as a Business Force: A Compilation of Experience Records, Doubleday, for the Associated advertising clubs of America, 1913, p. 144 (full text at Google Books)
2. ^ "Co-opetition", Los Angeles Times, Nov 20, 1937, p. a4
3. ^ Lawrence M. Fisher, "Preaching Love Thy Competitor", New York Times, March 29, 1992 full text

References

• Adam Brandenburger, Barry Nalebuff 1996 Co-Opetition : A Revolution Mindset That Combines Competition and Cooperation ISBN 0-385-47950-6

See also

• Frenemy
• Cartels are well-known examples of companies working together in order to limit competition.
• Negarchy

External links

• Strategic co-opetition: The value of relationships in the networked economy, A perspective from IBM
• The website to accompany the book Co-opetition by Adam M Brandenburger and Barry J Nalebuff
• Channel Register: The ugly truth about coopetition
• Coopetition in the new economy: Collaboration Among Competitors