Coopeting to Survive. Surviving Coopetition

Coopetition has been identified as a key strategy to manage fierce competition situations in dynamic markets (Brandenburger, Nalebuff 1996a, b). However, the strategy implies several risks, such as opportunism and loss of control of strategic resources. We believe current studies on coopetition overlook another class of risks, namely those related to threats to the robustness of a firm’s business model. With coopetition, two or more parties can create value by complementing each other’s activity. However, the effects of the new set of complementarities on the existing complementarities constituting each party’s business model are not negligible. Coopetition implies complex changes that ought to be managed in a coordinated fashion in order to preserve the robustness and coherence of a firm’s business model. Based on an inductive study, we aim to present the theoretical distinctions of the possible unintended effects caused by coopetition. The study is focused on San Benedetto S.p.A, an Italian drinks and bottling company that survived competition in the soft drinks and beverages industry thanks to a coopetition-driven strategy. Besides competitors such as Ferrero and Schweppes, big players such as Coca Cola and Pepsi Co. also signed contracts with San Benedetto. However, following coopetition, there emerged several differently originated interferences in the firm’s original business model. This study highlights that the inability of fully foreseeing the effects of coopetition, and eventually of metabolizing them, might in the long run turn coopetition from opportunity into trap.