The Impact of Co-opetition on the Challenges of Internationalisation for SMEs on the Chinese market

The world’s economy is approaching to be integrated as a whole and the interactions between companies from different countries are closer and easier than ever. Under such a context, SMEs are evolved from local actors into international players. During the process of internationalisation, SMEs are benefited from international opportunities in developing their competitiveness and improving their overall performances. At the same time, a number of challenges are accompanied creating obstacles for SMEs in achieving their business targets. The degree of challenges is found to be increasing while the international operations spread into emerging markets like China. It is advised to overcome the challenges of internationalisation through forming cooperative alliances with other companies. Among different types of cooperation, co-opetition, a relationship consists of simultaneous cooperation and competition, receives scarce attention. Whether co-opetition could positively impact on solving the challenges of internationalisation for SMEs has not widely studied and then becomes the interest of this work. A qualitative research was conducted on four case organisations that are all SMEs from European automotive industry and involved in co-opetitive relationships on the Chinese market. A conclusion is arguably drawn to evidence that a list of benefits of co-opetition can positively solving numerous challenges that SMEs confront during their internationalisation.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format

Knowledge acquisition and maritime logistics value : an inter-organisational relationship perspective

Maritime logistics value (i.e. improving operational efficiency and service effectiveness in maritime logistics) is one of the strategic goals that maritime operators (i.e. port operators, shipping lines and freight forwarders) want to achieve. Due to the lack of a systematic approach towards maritime logistics management, however, existing literature has yet to clearly define what strategic direction should be taken to accomplish such goals. This thesis proposes that a knowledge-based strategy is the most desirable alternative, having diagnosed its effectiveness in creating and sustaining maritime logistics value. The thesis consists of theoretical and empirical sections. The theoretical part reviews the work of maritime logistics and operators within the context of global logistics and strategic management theory (especially, knowledge-based and inter-organisational relationship perspectives). The theoretical review clarifies the strategic objective of maritime operators, and highlights the importance of a knowledge management strategy towards such a business goal. Based on the literature review, the research develops a conceptual framework that shows the positive relationship between knowledge acquisition and maritime logistics value, and the role of social network embeddedness in acquiring knowledge. The empirical work undertaken to examine the conceptual relationship adopts a qualitative approach: an explorative case study and a Delphi survey. The explorative case study utilises an interview method with a semi-structured questionnaire, and two rounds of the Delphi survey are then conducted by collecting data from a panel of experts in the field. The two research methods are applied to the maritime logistics industry in Korea, where the strategic significance of maritime logistics value becomes ever more obvious. The empirical findings indicate that maritime operators acquire useful knowledge through being embedded in social co-operative and co-opetitive networks, and the acquired knowledge helps them to maximise the maritime logistics value. The work presented hereafter provides a meaningful insight for managers, policy makers and academic researchers into the knowledge management strategy and effective administration of a maritime logistics system in the context of interorganisational relationship. However, this thesis has not examined the way to apply the acquired knowledge on an internal basis of an organisation, and focuses solely on a qualitative approach. It is suggested that a quantitative and in-depth discussion on the knowledge-based maritime logistics research within an intra-organisational level be made by linking maritime operators’ strategy with macro-issues in global supply chains

The strategic relevance of business relationships: a preliminary assessment

The ubiquitous contention within the Industrial Networks literature - that business relationships are one of the firm´s most important resources - has not been, in our viewpoint, thoroughly explored. Hence we argue that the ‘Resource-based View of the Firm’ (‘RBV’) may complement the network-based reasoning on the strategic relevance of business relationships. A theoretical framework is proposed – a competence-based view of the firm – which solves RBV´s terminological and inconsistency problems and, more importantly, assures compatibility with the network perspective´s assumptions. The possibility of cross-fertilizing the Industrial Networks and RBV theories seems not only real, but also conceptually profitable for both theoretical fields.Business Relationships, Industrial Networks, Resource-Based View of the Firm, Competence-Based View of the Firm

Strategic Analysis of Dual Sourcing and Dual Channel with an Unreliable Alternative Supplier

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/148383/1/poms12938_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/148383/2/poms12938.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/148383/3/poms12938-sup-0001-AppendixS1.pd

Towards a Theory of Co-opetition of Supply Networks

Co-opetition, or simultaneous competition and cooperation, in the supply chain management literature has been treated as a dyadic relational phenomenon where the buyer's strategy is considered to be the primary driver. In this paper, we move beyond the dyadic view and propose a theory of co-opetition in supply networks. We argue that as firms within a supply network interact over time to access, share, and transform resources, new ties between firms are formed and existing ties dissolve, giving rise to co-opetition dynamics at the network level. Taking a configurational approach, we employ the inter-related dimensions of ties between firm, firm-level task, network-level objective, and governance to specify four practical supply network archetypes that cover a wide range of economic activities. We then explain how co-opetitive relationships may evolve in these supply network archetypes. Specifically, we discuss how relationships form or dissolve in these archetypes and how local structural changes lead to co-opetition dynamics at the network level. We also discuss the implications of such dynamics from a managerial perspective.Keywords: Co-opetition, Structural Holes, Supply Networks, Archetypes, Tertius Gaudens, Tertius Iungen

IT-enabled Interorganizational Information Sharing Under Co-opetition in Disasters: A Game-Theoretic Framework

Increasing uncertainty in the business world requires organizations to establish temporary, IT-enabled interorganizational information exchanges on short notice. Information sharing among disaster relief organizations represents an extreme case of these ad hoc interorganizational information exchanges, and therefore provides a good reference point for analyzing firms’ strategic competitive and cooperative considerations (co-opetition). While ad hoc IT-enabled interorganizational information sharing is particularly crucial in facilitating efficient disaster response, little research has outlined the main barriers and benefits of participation in these ad hoc information relationships, with the existing literature often overlooking the competitive aspects. We demonstrate that the ad hoc humanitarian context of natural disasters provides additional insights to existing understandings of information sharing costs and benefits under co-opetition. An elaborated game-theoretic model is developed that provides a theoretical foundation for empirical and modeling research on IT-enabled interorganizational information sharing, under co-opetition in disaster relief, as well as in other business contexts

Coopetition and strategic networks in the fast-moving consumer-goods industry : category management as a strategic opportunity in crisis

Managers need to understand that networks should be an important part of their strategy and that cooperation and competition should be intertwined in the business context. The biggest opportunities in business don’t come from playing the game better than everyone else - they come from changing the fundamental nature of the game itself to your advantage. In a context of crisis, these aspects take an even bigger importance, since most of companies fail to grow or to present results. I introduce a tapered approach to the fast-moving consumer goods industry in order to relate these strategic networks with the coopetition theory. Taking the interviews made to the players hovering in this industry in addition to the existing body of knowledge of published articles and recent environmental dynamics into consideration, this paper will attempt to compare and contrast the category management approaches regarding coopetition and tactical networks’ practices, inserting this concept in a broader strategic view that encompass not only the marketing understanding, but also the strategy point of view, enclosing it as a strategic coopetitive tool and alternative to grow, especially important in crisis times. This thesis will be supported by one case study that intend to illustrate the evolution of the networking-level strategy and coopetition in the consumer-goods industry, mainly supported by the category trade management in a context of crisis

Triads as a system of collaboration

The topic of the thesis were triads, its actors and relationships and collaboration between the actors. The starting point for this thesis is the previously made thesis, since the interviews of it have been used as empirical material of this thesis. The purpose of the thesis was to study, by means of the theoretical and the empirical material, how a triad works to boost collaboration between the actors. The target was to confirm the assumed perspective that a triad can act as a system of collaboration. This thesis is made as a qualitative research that used conceptual study which based on the theoretical sources. The theoretical framework deals with relationships in triads, collaboration and open and closed systems. As the interviews were conducted in the supply network, this thesis focused especially on triads and on its relationships between the buyer and two suppliers. The empirical part of the thesis was handled as a case study. Empirical research has been used to analyze the interviews to determine whether the interviews supported the views presented on the basis of the theoretical material. Previous made interviews were held on a predetermined target network and both open and closed questions were used. The examination of the interviews was focused on their most important content for each of the six pairs of interviews. After that, the interviews were started to be analyzed more closely and examined whether they were consistent with the content of the theoretical framework. At the end of the thesis, conclusions and a summary of the results are presented. In particular, the results emphasize that improving communication can increase trust and commitment and create fellowship. Through it, loose actors will become a part of a smaller network – the triad