DYNAMISM AND COMPETITION
 

"Coopetition" In The New Economy: Collaboration Among Competitors

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? Innovation and value are more and more commonly generated in networks. In fact, management guru Peter Drucker and other experts have suggested that the collaborative dynamic of networks, partnerships, and joint ventures is a main organizing principle in the New Economy. Social capital (networks, shared norms, and trust), as fostered in collaboration and alliances, may be as important as physical capital (plant, equipment, and technology), and human capital (intellect, character, education, and training) in driving innovation and growth.

THE TREND: Though competition for market position has been increasing in the New Economy, so has the frequency of collaboration among competitors. Firms, through a growing array of partnerships, increasingly turn to suppliers, customers, universities, and federal laboratories for sources of technology and innovation. Indeed, a proliferation of networks of organizations, in the form of partnerships and consortia, has contributed to the successful renewal of the U.S. economy by ratcheting up technological innovation.¹⁹ While Europe and the United States had approximately the same number of industry technology alliances in 1985, alliances in the United States have since boomed, especially in the 1990s, while they have declined significantly in Europe and Japan.

THE DATA:

 
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