Friends and foes: Towards a cognition- and resource-based model of coopetition

Abstract

Value-driven cooperation between competitors is becoming increasingly salient, especially in knowledge intensive industries. However, theoretical developments on cooperation and competition remain largely disconnected; as a result, the dynamic interplay between competition and cooperation is largely left in a black box. This paper draws the relevant insights from two critical streams of research on inter-firm interactions, RBT and managerial cognition, to construct a conceptual model with parallel mediating paths elucidating the dynamic interplay between competition in the downstream product market and cooperation in the upstream factor market.