Sustainability and Resilience in Alliance-Driven Manufacturing Ecosystems: A Strategic Conceptual Modeling Perspective

The challenge of sustainability rests on the ability of organizations to change their practices to meet the needs of current and future generations. To date, most research on organizational change has focused on how to change within a single organization. However, an increasing number of sustainability challenges require changes across multiple organizations. In this paper, we summarize strategic challenges faced in such a setting and outline a conceptual modeling approach for strategic analysis of alliance-driven solutions. We illustrate our ideas with a case study in digital agriculture, a field particularly relevant to sustainability, and end with the identification of issues for further research

Behavioral antecedents of coopetition: a synthesis and measurement scale

This study taps into managers’ perceptions of coopetition antecedents to better understand why firms adopt coopetition. By analyzing and synthesizing findings from systematic reviews of coopetition literature we integrate knowledge on coopetition antecedents. We develop and validate a scale measuring behavioral coopetition antecedents: strategic rationale and coopetition mindset. Based on a random sample of 368 Polish tourism firms, we run exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to find that antecedents used in coopetition literature converge into two latent, behavioral constructs. Our data substantiate the view that coopetition is an intentional strategy, driven by a strategic rationale. Managers are found to pursue coopetition in order to reach clearly defined benefits with fitting partners. Moreover, three elements are found to converge in the coopetitive mindset latent construct: orientation to cooperation, trust, and experience in coopetition. We contribute to the methodological advancement of measurement instruments with applicability potential in future research examining the behavioral antecedents of coopetition. We also advance the behavioral stream of research in strategy by empirically identifying the connection between rational and behavioral antecedents of firms’ coopetitive strategic behavior

Collaborating with competitors: pitfalls and paybacks

Inter-firm collaborations have become an indispensable part of business strategy to deal with faster competitive dynamics and higher market and environmental uncertainties. Interestingly, research has found that around half of all cooperative relationships take place between competitors. Termed as coopetition , it refers to the simultaneous cooperation and competition between at least two actors. Over the past two decades, coopetition has become an important domain for industrial practice which has led to increasing research interest by scholars worldwide with a wide range of subjects studied within the extant body of literature. Despite the growing interest, coopetition research is still fragmented and is dominated by conceptual research. This entails limitations to knowledge and understanding reflected by heterogeneous uses of the coopetition concept (mixed definitions and a lack of clarity in how to apply coopetition successfully), a lack of generalisability, and a limited number of quantitative studies. Coopetition scholars commonly argue that competitors rarely cooperate in activities that are close to customers, known as output activities (e.g., sales and marketing), but instead argue that they mostly cooperate in activities far from the customer, referred to as input activities (e.g., R&D, logistics, and NPD). However, it has been found in real world business examples that competitors also cooperate in output activities. In this study these two distinct types of coopetition are termed as internally focused coopetition (cooperating with competitors in input activities) and externally focused coopetition (cooperating with competitors in output activities). This is the first study synthesising these two types of coopetition in one conceptual model, and examining their individual paybacks and pitfalls. After the development of the conceptual model based on the relevant literature, a cross-sectional research design is adopted and an online survey is implemented among Chief Operating Officers and Managing Directors in UK high-tech companies. A total of 148 completed questionnaires are collected. Data analysis employs a two-stage approach, which includes a measurement model assessment and a structural model assessment. The results indicate that both internally and externally focused coopetition can help firms to develop new knowledge-based resources and capabilities. However, these two types of coopetition also have different paybacks and pitfalls. Even though the new innovation knowledge-based resources and capabilities gained from internally focused coopetition can lead to better business efficiency and effectiveness, firms also lose uniqueness in their existing knowledge-based resources and capabilities (a key tenet of competitive advantage in resource- and knowledge-based theories). In contrast, externally focused coopetition has no significant impact on uniqueness, but the new marketing knowledge-based resources and capabilities negatively influence business efficiency and effectiveness. It has also been found that when firms perceive that their competitors are behaving opportunistically, they tend to do the same and appropriate more knowledge-based resources and capabilities from the collective value created. Competitors opportunism also renders more loss of uniqueness, which in turn worsens business performance. This research provides greater clarity and understanding to scholars of the workings of coopetition for deriving new knowledge-based resources and capabilities and extrapolating performance benefits from this. This work also illuminates situations where coopetition does not result in the perceived win-win-win situations indicated in literature. Based on these results, a number of theoretical and managerial contributions are developed. Principally, (1) this is the first study that conceptualises and operationalises internally and externally focused coopetition, and their individual knowledge-based outcomes are analysed from a knowledge-based view; (2) how competitors opportunism affects the dynamics of coopetition is better understood from a game theoretical perspective; (3) this study extends the understanding of business performance outcomes of coopetition

Goal modelling for strategic dependency analysis in destination management

Purpose: The paper suggests goal modelling as a method for the strategic analysis in tourism destinations. Destination management is quite complex and challenging and requires deep understanding of the intentions, the roles and the strategies of the various stakeholders. Methods: This paper identifies the challenges and major issues of destination management, evaluates the capacity of goal modelling to address them and demonstrates the use of goal modelling for stakeholder and strategic analysis. Results: The paper provides a holistic, multi-level modelling approach that begins with stakeholder analysis, continues with the analysis of strategic dependencies between stakeholders and ends with the analysis of the strategic alignment of the Destination Management Systems. Goal modelling is used for the analysis of the roles and functions of stakeholders, the analysis of the interdependencies between stakeholders in terms of goals, tasks and resources, the selection between alternative business configurations, and the business model and strategic analysis. Implications: Three important issues of destination management are addressed: stakeholder analysis, strategic dependency analysis, and strategic alignment of information systems. The formalism of goal modelling can provide rigor and visualization in the analysis of the complex relationships in destination management

Social Cognitive Theory as a Framework for Understanding the Relationships Between Competition and Cooperation: A Three Essay Story of Emerging Coopetition and Entrepreneurial Team Outcomes

Three essays explore the role social cognitive theory (SCT) plays in the interactions between competitive and cooperative traits, goal structures, and behaviors on simultaneous competition and cooperation, termed coopetition. Though the concept is advantageous and popular both in theoretical and practical terms, there are large gaps in the study of the phenomenon at the individual and collective level. In Essay One, I present a theoretical model for the emergence of collective competition, cooperation, and coopetition. Specifically, I propose collective coopetition as a meso level, compilation construct based on the individual characteristics of team members, their interactions, and the situational and environmental influences. In Essay Two, I empirically test coopetition using a primary data sample of students. The study utilizes individual-level competitive and cooperative traits, goal interdependencies and goal perceptions to determine whether or not they engage in coopetition based on the triadic model of SCT. I find they each influence competitive and cooperative behaviors. In Essay Three, I identify the relationships and interplay of coopetition using competitiveness and cooperativeness, competitive and cooperative goal interdependence, and competitive and cooperative behaviors on new venture team outcomes. Using a primary data sample from the Table Top Games industry, I find entrepreneurs have higher levels of competitiveness than cooperativeness, and that their team perceptions of interdependence lead to whether the team engages in competitive or cooperative behaviors

Rozwój definicji koopetycji

Artykuł poświęcony jest ewolucji definicji koopetycji, zjawiska zyskującego coraz większą popularność w obszarze zarządzania strategicznego. Celem artykułu jest wykazanie ścieżki rozwoju definicji i czynników, które na ten rozwój wpłynęły. Uwzględniono wpływ poszczególnych badaczy i kierunki rozwoju, a także uzasadnienie postulatu konieczności ujednolicenia definicji koopetycji.Artykuł składa się z 5 części. Pierwszą część stanowi wprowadzenie, w którym zarysowano tematykę. W drugiej części przedstawiono kontekst badawczy i granice przeglądu literatury, na bazie którego prowadzony jest przegląd definicji koopetycji. W części trzeciej wybrany zestaw definicji przenalizowano pod kątem uwypuklanych w nich cech charakterystycznych koopetycji, aby stworzyć ich ranking z punktu widzenia częstotliwości występowania, a następnie wskazać najistotniejsze cechy analizowanego zjawiska, które powinny znaleźć się w jednolitej, ogólnej definicji. W części czwartej pokazano proces ewolucji definicji, od momentu jej pierwszego sformułowania w 1996 r. do dnia dzisiejszego. Artykuł kończy część piąta w formie podsumowania i wskazania dalszych kierunków rozwoju tematu definicji koopetycji

Lessons Learned from Applying Social Network Analysis on an Industrial Free/Libre/Open Source Software Ecosystem

Many software projects are no longer done in-house by a single organization. Instead, we are in a new age where software is developed by a networked community of individuals and organizations, which base their relations to each other on mutual interest. Paradoxically, recent research suggests that software development can actually be jointly-developed by rival firms. For instance, it is known that the mobile-device makers Apple and Samsung kept collaborating in open source projects while running expensive patent wars in the court. Taking a case study approach, we explore how rival firms collaborate in the open source arena by employing a multi-method approach that combines qualitative analysis of archival data (QA) with mining software repositories (MSR) and Social Network Analysis (SNA). While exploring collaborative processes within the OpenStack ecosystem, our research contributes to Software Engineering research by exploring the role of groups, sub-communities and business models within a high-networked open source ecosystem. Surprising results point out that competition for the same revenue model (i.e., operating conflicting business models) does not necessary affect collaboration within the ecosystem. Moreover, while detecting the different sub-communities of the OpenStack community, we found out that the expected social tendency of developers to work with developers from same firm (i.e., homophily) did not hold within the OpenStack ecosystem. Furthermore, while addressing a novel, complex and unexplored open source case, this research also contributes to the management literature in coopetition strategy and high-tech entrepreneurship with a rich description on how heterogeneous actors within a high-networked ecosystem (involving individuals, startups, established firms and public organizations) joint-develop a complex infrastructure for big-data in the open source arena.Comment: As accepted by the Journal of Internet Services and Applications (JISA

Coopetition in an open-source way : lessons from mobile and cloud computing infrastructures

An increasing amount of technology is no longer developed in-house. Instead, we are in a new age where technology is developed by a networked community of individuals and organizations, who base their relations to each other on mutual interest. Advances arising from research in platforms, ecosystems, and infrastructures can provide valuable knowledge for better understanding and explaining technology development among a network of firms. More surprisingly, recent research suggests that technology can be jointly developed by rival competing firms in an open-source way. For instance, it is known that the mobile device makers Apple and Samsung continued collaborating in open-source projects while running expensive patent wars in the courts. On top of multidisciplinary theory in open-source software, cooperation among competitors (aka coopetition) and digital infrastructures, I (and my coauthors) explored how rival firms cooperate in the joint development of open-source infrastructures. While assimilating a wide variety of paradigms and analytical approaches, this doctoral research combined the qualitative analysis of naturally occurring data (QA) with the mining of software repositories (MSR) and social network analysis (SNA) within a set of case studies. By turning to the mobile and cloud computing industries in general, and the WebKit and OpenStack opensource infrastructures in particular, we found out that qualitative ethnographic materials, combined with social network visualizations, provide a rich medium that enables a better understanding of competitive and cooperative issues that are simultaneously present and interconnected in open-source infrastructures. Our research contributes back to managerial literature in coopetition strategy, but more importantly to Information Systems by addressing both cooperation and competition within the development of high-networked open-source infrastructures.Yhä suurempaa osaa teknologiasta ei enää kehitetä organisaatioiden omasta toimesta. Sen sijaan, olemme uudella aikakaudella jossa teknologiaa kehitetään verkostoituneessa yksilöiden ja organisaatioiden yhteisössä, missä toimitaan perustuen yhteiseen tavoitteeseen. Alustojen, ekosysteemien ja infrastruktuurien tutkimuksen tulokset voivat tuottaa arvokasta tietämystä teknologian kehittämisestä yritysten verkostossa. Erityisesti tuore tutkimustieto osoittaa että kilpailevat yritykset voivat yhdessä kehittää teknologiaa avoimeen lähdekoodiin perustuvilla käytännöillä. Esimerkiksi tiedetään että mobiililaitteiden valmistajat Apple ja Samsung tekivät yhteistyötä avoimen lähdekoodin projekteissa ja kävivät samaan aikaan kalliita patenttitaistoja eri oikeusfoorumeissa. Perustuen monitieteiseen teoriaan avoimen lähdekoodin ohjelmistoista, yhteistyöstä kilpailijoiden kesken (coopetition) sekä digitaalisista infrastruktuureista, minä (ja kanssakirjoittajani) tutkimme miten kilpailevat yritykset tekevät yhteistyötä avoimen lähdekoodin infrastruktuurien kehityksessä. Sulauttaessaan runsaan joukon paradigmoja ja analyyttisiä lähestymistapoja case-joukon puitteissa, tämä väitöskirjatutkimus yhdisti luonnollisesti esiintyvän datan kvantitatiivisen analyysin ohjelmapakettivarastojen louhintaan ja sosiaalisten verkostojen analyysiin. Tutkiessamme mobiili- ja pilvipalveluiden teollisuudenaloja yleisesti, ja WebKit ja OpenStack avoimen lähdekoodin infrastruktuureja erityisesti, havaitsimme että kvalitatiiviset etnografiset materiaalit yhdistettyinä sosiaalisten verkostojen visualisointiin tuottavat rikkaan aineiston joka mahdollistaa avoimen lähdekoodin infrastruktuuriin samanaikaisesti liittyvien kilpailullisten ja yhteistyökuvioiden hyvän ymmärtämisen. Tutkimuksemme antaa oman panoksensa johdon kirjallisuuteen coopetition strategy -alueella, mutta sitäkin enemmän tietojärjestelmätieteeseen, läpikäymällä sekä yhteistyötä että kilpailua tiiviisti verkostoituneessa avoimen lähdekoodin infrastruktuurien kehitystoiminnassaUma crescente quantidade de tecnologia não é desenvolvida internamente por uma só organização. Em vez disso, estamos em uma nova era em que a tecnologia é desenvolvida por uma comunidade de indivíduos e organizações que baseiam suas relações umas com as outras numa rede de interesse mútuo. Os avanços teórico decorrentes da pesquisa em plataformas computacionais, ecossistemas e infraestruturas digitais fornecem conhecimentos valiosos para uma melhor compreensão e explicação do desenvolvimento tecnológico por uma rede de multiplas empresas. Mais surpreendentemente, pesquisas recentes sugerem que tecnologia pode ser desenvolvida conjuntamente por empresas rivais concorrentes e de uma forma aberta (em código aberto). Por exemplo, sabe-se que os fabricantes de dispositivos móveis Apple e Samsung continuam a colaborar em projetos de código aberto ao mesmo tempo que se confrontam em caras guerras de patentes nos tribunais. Baseados no conhecimento científico de software de código aberto, de cooperação entre concorrentes (também conhecida como coopetição) e de infraestruturas digitais, eu e os meus co-autores exploramos como empresas concorrentes cooperam no desenvolvimento conjunto de infraestruturas de código aberto. Ao utilizar uma variedade de paradigmas e abordagens analíticas, esta pesquisa de doutoramento combinou a análise qualitativa de dados de ocorrência natural (QA) com a análise de repositórios de softwares (MSR) e a análise de redes sociais (SNA) dentro de um conjunto de estudos de casos. Ao investigar as industrias de technologias móveis e de computação em nuvem em geral, e as infraestruturas em código aberto WebKit e OpenStack, em particular, descobrimos que o material etnográfico qualitativo, combinado com visualizações de redes sociais, fornece um meio rico que permite uma melhor compreensão das problemas competitivos e cooperativos que estão simultaneamente presentes e interligados em infraestruturas de código aberto. A nossa pesquisa contribui para a literatura em gestão estratégica e coompetição, mas mais importante para literatura em Sistemas de Informação, abordando a cooperação e concorrência no desenvolvimento de infraestruturas de código aberto por uma rede the indivíduos e organizações em interesse mútuo