This research investigated the role of third party in coopetition strategies. Previous studies have considered that the third party can initiate coopetition and can also stimulate collaboration between coopetitors. In this study, we question this vision by answering the following questions: (a) Is the third party initiating coopetition or suffering from coopetition? (b) Is the third party stimulating collaboration and/or competition between coopetitors? To provide insights on these questions, we investigated two exemplar cases of coopetition in the European telecommunication satellites manufacturing sector. We show that public institutions and private clients can play the role of third party. When the third party is a public institution, it will initiate coopetition and stimulate collaboration between coopetitors. On the contrary, when the third party is a private client, it will suffer from coopetition and stimulate competition between coopetitors. The role of the third party will thus depend on the match between its interests and coopetitors’ interests. If third party’s interests fit with coopetitors’ ones, the third party will stimulate collaboration. If not, the third party will stimulate competition.
