THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORKS OF COOPETITION Suzanna Lamria. Siregar Fakultas Ekonomi, Universitas Gunadarma Jl. Margonda Raya 100, Depok 16424 [email protected] ABSTRACT There are several perspectives that provide useful theoretical frameworks for analyzing coopetition based on its original paradigm – competition and cooperation. They are transaction–cost economics, resource-based view, game theory, industrial- organization, socioeconomics and social network analysis. Theoretical perspectives then developed to conceptual frameworks that explain and predict empirical phenomena of coopetition. The frameworks of coopetition vary from a continuum with cooperation and competition at its ends to the tendency to adopt multidimensionality under orthogonal structure between two constructs of competition and cooperation. – briefly drawing the typology of coopetition with coopetition and cooperation constructs as its axis. Keywords:, coopetition, theoretical perxpectives INTRODUCTION (1991) endorses Resource-Based View (RBV) the concept Wernerfelt (1984) Coopetition is investigated under once affirmed. This approach turns to be the inter-organizational relationship one of the significant perspective used in realms. It is lying between two examining coopetition. diametrically different logics of Cooperation is frequently interaction cooperation and competition considered the antithesis of competition, (Bengtsson and Kock, 2000), from where since it is a recursive process where two the new research domain also get its or more firms work together toward an name. intersection of common goals. Within Competition traditionally depicted the cooperative paradigm, the business as direct rivalry between firms. Beneath world is composed of a network of the industrial organization perspective, interdependent relationships developed Porter (1986) brings the notions to win and fostered through strategic competition by overcoming the threats or collaboration with the goal of deriving power of substitute products, new mutual benefits (Contractor and Lorange, competitors, competitive rivalry, 1988 in Lado, Boyd, and Hanlon, 1997). customers and suppliers. The other The inter-firm cooperation agreement distinguished way to succeed in means a strategic option of adjustment to competition is to exploit but at the same gain access to resources that firm does time to maintain the key resources – that not have but are indispensable for its is the resources which have the properties sustainability or progress. Quintana- of being valuable, rare, in-imitable and Garcıa and Benavides-Velasco (2004) non-substitutable (Barney, 1986). elaborate resources as abilities and Interweaving Porter’s five and the VRIN knowledge and sustainability and properties of key resources, Barney Siregar, Theoretical Perspective……. 1 progress narrowly refer to new product resource to guarantee the creation and development process. furthermore the sustainability of firm’s Coopetition gets its paradox from competitive advantage. The other the simultaneously existence of approach evolves around the idea of how cooperation and competition in the sustainability of competitive advantage relationship. On one side, coopetition strongly depends on firm’s ability to deals with enmity due to conflicting develop capabilities for innovations. This interests related to obtain competitive dynamic capability-based approach advantage and on the other side with emphasizes skill acquisition, learning and necessity to develop trust and mutual capability accumulation which provide a commitment to achieve common aims, convenient basis on which the both towards the same entity. Several accumulation of resource stock through theoretical perspectives have been used to coopetition will be examined. analyze this new stream of research area, they are resource-based view, game Game Theory theory, transaction–cost economics, socio-economics and social network Game theory represents another analysis. Researchers tend to intertwine conceptual framework for examining the the perspectives rather to use a single one potential of rent creation through to explain the phenomenon. coopetition strategy (Brandenburger and Nalebuff, 1996). According to Okura THE PERSPECTIVES (2007) game theory has the following three advantages for analyzing the Resource-Based View. coopetition. First, game theory can contain some strategic interactions among From Resource based-view, direct firms (competitor), the industrial competitive advantage comes from profits entirely are related not only to a owning valuable, rare, inimitable, non- firm’s decisions, but also to those of substitutable capabilities that allow the others. Second, game theory can firm to offer its customers better value represent a complex situation by a very than competitors. Fundamentally, two simple model. Game theory permits assumptions underpin this approach: (a) analyzing a complex situation by firms are heterogeneous with respect to distinguishing in an analytical fashion the their resource profiles and (b) those cooperative and competitive issues that resources are not perfectly mobile across are interwoven in the real world situation. firms (Barney, 1991). Sustained Third, game theory gives a very rigorous differences in firms' profits may be analytical methods. attributed to differences in resources and In the terminology of game not necessarily to a particular industry's theory, coopetition can be depicted as an structural conditions. Accordingly, extensive-form game containing both unique resources and capabilities enable cooperative (positive-sum game) and the firm to generate economic rents, competitive (zero-sum game) stages. By leading to sustained competitive this nature, coopetition can be viewed as advantage. “variable-positive-sum game”. The Based on how economic rent are solution of an extensive-form game is generated and sustained, two approaches expressed as sub-game perfect then develop form RBV perspective. The equilibrium. This equilibrium can be first perspective emphasizes the derived using backward induction, which importance of VRIN properties of means solving the optimal choice of the 2 Jurnal Ekonomi Bisnis No. 1 Vol.14, April 2009 last stages in all possible situations and also gives space for explanation on the then working backward to compute the dynamic of coopetitive relationship. The optimal choice. Mathematical analysis on relationship changes the direction over the equilibrium is the backbone of this certain time range due to the interactions perspective. happened in the network. This approach also frequently used to confirm the Industrial Organization Socio- knowledge and technological (and other economics - Social Network Analysis. resources, e.g. trust (Castaldo and Dagnino, 2004)) flows in the relationship. Beside game theory and RBV, Lado Social network analysis is built et. al. (1997) also exploit socioeconomics based on an assumption of the importance perspective to explore coopetitive of relationships among interacting units. behavior of firms. By socioeconomics The social network perspective approaches, Lado, et al. (1997) fuse encompasses theories, models, and economical, sociological, psychological applications that are expressed in terms of (behavior studies) even mention relational concepts or processes. A biological approaches to conclude the “social network” is defined as a group of main idea that firms are not just economic collaborating entities that are related to beings, they are also social ones. The each other. Mathematically, this is a firms tied in certain norms and ethics, so graph (or a multi-graph); each participant beside maximizing their utility function, in the collaboration is called an actor and they are also considering the moral depicted as a node in the graph. Actors sentiment and/or value. can be persons, organizations, or Bengtsson and Kock (2000) groups—any set of related entities. combine the perspective of industrial Valued relations between actors are organization (economics) and network depicted as links between the perspective when depicting the corresponding nodes. paradoxical nature of coopetition. Four things related to actors, Network approach which focuses more in relations, network focus and structure are the (both vertical or horizontal) considered important in social network relationships adjoined with industrial analysis. First, actors and their actions organization which interests is on the are viewed as interdependent rather than industry structure. With these independent, autonomous units. Second, perspective, the cooperation and the relational ties (linkages) between actors competition can be denoted to happen are channels for transfer or "flow" of within a coopetitive relationship resources (either material or nonmaterial). involving the same entities. The Next, network models focusing on dominance degree whether of cooperation individuals view the network structural or competition in the coopetitive environment as providing opportunities relationship together with the for or constraints on individual action. propositions become the significant And network models conceptualize results from this study. structure (social, economic, political, and I found network approaches go so forth) as lasting patterns of relations along with the focus of socioeconomics among actors. The unit of analysis in perspective. The idea of network network analysis is not the individual, but embeddedness from Gnyawali and an entity consisting of a collection