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.
This study seeks to provide insights into the principle of “integration of coopetition paradox” considered as a managerial necessity to manage coopetition situations. Coopetition is a relationships filled with tensions related to the coexistence of two contradictory dimensions of cooperation and competition. To manage this situation, individuals need to integrate the coopetive paradox, that means to accept cognitively the paradox and to integrate both contradictory dimensions into their daily activities. The cognitive dimension of the integration principle and its consequences on managerial practices remain under investigated in previous literature. How do individuals perceive the coopetition paradox? What are the consequences of the integration principle on managerial practices? We aim to fill this gap by identifying how individuals are capable of integrating coopetition paradox and how do they deal with it in their daily management. Based on an in-depth study of an exemplar case of intra-firm coopetition we identify for the first time in the coopetitive literature to show and discuss different capacities of integration of the coopetition paradox between managers. According to the integration principle at the individual level, individuals should cognitively accept the coopetition paradox and behave correspondingly to their cognitive perception, emphasizing on both dimensions of cooperation and competition. However, in this study, we show that managerial practices can be disconnected from a cognitive acceptance of the paradox. Moreover, depending on the level of the cognitive integration, we point out that managerial tools are insufficient to efficiently manage coopetition and that all manager are not capable of integrate the paradox and handle coopetition situations.
