Co-Eptition

Description: Dr. Mosad Zineldin a Professor of Strategic Management and Marketing. He is a Doctor of Philosophy, Stockholm University, School of Business- Sweden. Major: business Administration. He is also engaged in a considerable number of research and consulting activities. He has participated in different international conferences as a presenter and a keynote speaker. I'm organizer and chairman of different international conferences. I wrote and published several books and numerous articles in many different international journals. I have held many visiting appointments in several countries. “Co-opetition , as in the title of their article, describes a business situation in which independent parties co-operate with one another and co-ordinate their activities, thereby collaborating to achieve mutual goals, but at the same time compete with each other as well as their other firms. The basic philosophy underlying co-opetitive business relationship is that all industrials management activities should aim for the system, including competitors (Zineldin, 1998, 2000). Co-opetition can deliver synergy if carefully planned, managed and controlled, and preconditions for achieving this outcome are examined. Analysis: Because coopetition is a combination of competition and cooperation, we have to be clear about these two concepts. In the literature, competition is considered in two different perspectives: as a property of market structure whose form is determined by market forces (Porter, 1980; Scherer & Ross, 1990) or as a result of actions and reactions posed by firms competing in the same business (Abell, 1980; Baum & Korn, 1996). Differently than the first perspective, the second one highlights the relational nature of competition and the behaviour of single firms that are both essential to the existence of coopetition. On November 16, 2006, "Japan-China Economic Conference 2006"was held in Osaka, Japan. President Yang attended the conference and elaborated on one of the crucial thoughts of Haier's international development based on co-petition. "Co-petition is a new pattern of brand cooperation under the new circumstances co-innovated by Zhang Ruimin, the CEO of Haier Group and Toshimasa Iue, the former president of Sanyo. The Information Age witnesses a flat world that not a single business can meet the needs of the customers all over the world. Hence only the co-petition between enterprises can realize the interchanges of the resources of the two brands, complementation of each other's advantages and interest-sharing, thus satisfying the needs of the customers all over the world. The strategy was signed last 27th. Innovation, inspiration and added value are the maxims of the new corporation. The two parties affirmed the basic development direction through communication. Haier Sanyo Co., as the carrier of co-petition between Haier Group and Sanyo will bring the advantages of co-petition between the two brands into full play and provide competitive products for the world market. Discussion: Competition is a common trend in today's fast paced world. Nations, organizations and individuals desperately try to outdo the other. It is commonplace to hear the phrases "biggest in the world," "best in the hemisphere" etc. African nations can chart a different course. Competition has already left the continent with ugly scars. The scramble for Africa saw colonial powers compete in a race to annex African resources, creating artificial geographical demarcations. Today, Intra-African trade accounts for less than 5% of the trade done by African nations. To achieve this, African nations need to follow the path of "co-petition." Co-petition happens when entities who should otherwise be in competition against each other, decide to pool resources for mutual advancement. They realize that there is greater potential for success in working together. This method is already inherent in most African cultures. An attempt to force a "winner takes all" approach has caused conflicts. This is evident in politics. The power sharing arrangements seen in Nigeria, Kenya, Zimbabwe and other African nations seems to have a calming effect, stemming conflict and allowing an atmosphere for development. This is co-petition at work. Conclusion: This paper is an initial tentative to define a conceptual framework for research on coopetition that explains and predicts empirical phenomena not explained or predicted by other frameworks in strategic management. Specifically, we identify the following principal features characterizing the proposed analysis. First, we define the concept of coopetition based on competition and cooperation. Second, we analyze and discuss the variables that affect the empirical definition of the phenomenon. Third, we submit some propositions, adding a contribution on coopetition literature, that could be a base for further theoretical and empirical researches. Forth, we add a contribution to multipoint competition literature in the meaning that not only competition in market A influences competition in market B but also cooperation. 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