Complementarities in action: modeling complementarity thresholds in enacting a coopetition strategy

This paper focuses on the issues of coopetition strategy implementation as well as on the evaluation of the potential limitations of the classical economics of complementarities approach and apparatus as applied to this field and to managerial settings in general. Coopetition strategies’ motivations in fact are funded on the concept of complementarity. However, this paper maintains that a closer look at the complementarity issues in coopetition is needed in order to avoid pitfalls in reaping the benefits of coopetition, and at the same time points out that the classical economic definition of complementarity presents shortomings in mirroring real managerial situations. In order to achieve such results, the paper develops a situated model of a coopetition strategy implementation and evaluates the potential unintended effects of this strategy on firm performance, as well as the applicability to a managerial setting of the concept of complementarity as defined in classical terms.