Checklist of All Reasons for Co-opetition

Checklist of All Reasons for Co-opetition

🔥NEW According to Brandenburger and Nalebuff there are many reasons for competitors to cooperate:

Saving costs
Avoiding duplication of effort
Very large project size
Very high risks involved
Combining key capabilities (company X is better at doing A while company Y is better at B)
Combining a key capability with large financial resources (company X is better at doing A while company Y supplies major financial means)
Improve corporate goodwill (Google and Apple working together on contact-tracing technology for Covid-19)

Are there any more major reasons why companies are collaborating strategically with a competitor? Definitely, I can think of:

Potential for cross-selling (company X and Y are competing on products A. But only company Y has another product/service B that is also relevant for this market segment. Company X offers B to its customers and receives part of the profit company Y is making on B)
Mutual enemy (company X and Y are both facing a strong competitor Z)
Establish an industry or technology standard / architecture (to which all others will have to conform)
Sharing key information (about the market, customer behavior)
Warming up for a later takeover (many successful innovative startups are acquired by larger firms who have a global brand and established distribution channels)

⇨ What reasons are we still missing?
Source: "The Rules of Co-opetition", Adam Brandenburger and Barry Nalebuff, HBR Jan-Feb 2021, pp. 48-57

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