Achieving sustainability through inter-firm coopetition

This project delves into the question of how companies can achieve sustainability goals through “coopetition,” where they simultaneously cooperate and compete with industry peers. In a world where various stakeholders, including the UN and governments, are collectively striving for sustainability, there is a growing need for inter-firm collaborations (Louche et al., 2021). Notably, the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals also emphasize the critical importance of company collaborations, reinforced by Goal 17, “Partnerships for the Goals” (UN, 2019).

Research shows that over 50% of partnerships and collaborations involve competitors (Harbison & Pekar, 1998), aka coopetition (Bengtsson & Kock, 2000). Competing firms often face similar economic and sustainability challenges while possessing the necessary resources and skills to address them, making them ideal partners for achieving sustainability goals (Manzhynski & Figge, 2019). For example, Renault and Nissan, despite being competitors, invested over $5 billion in a collaboration for electric vehicles and became industry leaders.

However, over half of such coopetition relations fail, primarily due to difficulties in managing tensions arising from combining cooperation and competition (Raza-Ullah, 2020). For instance, companies struggle with sharing knowledge while protecting it, creating value while appropriating it, and maintaining proximity while keeping distance. Simultaneously, issues like opportunistic behaviour, power imbalances, and role conflicts come into play. The pursuit of sustainability adds further complexities, as economic, social, and environmental dimensions compete for attention and resources (Hahn et al., 2015).

This project seeks interdisciplinary insights from strategy, paradox, and management fields to guide companies on how coopetition could be a fruitful strategy to address sustainability challenges and opportunities, as well as help them understand and develop mechanisms and strategies required to effectively manage coopetition for sustainability goals.

References
Bengtsson, M., & Kock, S. (2000). ” Coopetition” in business Networks—to cooperate and compete simultaneously. Industrial marketing management, 29(5), 411-426.
Bengtsson, M., & Raza-Ullah, T. (2016). A systematic review of research on coopetition: Toward a multilevel understanding. Industrial Marketing Management, 57, 23-39.
Hahn, T., Pinkse, J., Preuss, L., & Figge, F. (2015). Tensions in corporate sustainability: Towards an integrative framework. Journal of business ethics, 127(2), 297-316.
Harbison, J. R., & Pekar Jr, P. (1998). Smart alliances: A practical guide to repeatable success (Vol. 2). Jossey-Bass.
Louche, C., Young, S., & Fougère, M. (2021). Cross-sector dialogue for sustainability: to partner or not to partner?. Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal.
Park, S. H. and Ungson G. R. (2001). ‘Interfirm rivalry and managerial complexity: A conceptual framework of alliance failure’, Organization Science, 12, 37–53
Raza-Ullah, T. (2020). Experiencing the paradox of coopetition: A moderated mediation framework explaining the paradoxical tension–performance relationship. Long Range Planning, 53(1), 101863.
UN (2019). “Transforming our world: the 2030 agenda for sustainable development”, available at: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/post2015/transformingourworld
Please provide a by-line of one or two sentences for your project that can be used to advertise on social media:
Understanding and developing the required mechanisms and strategies that may help competitor companies achieve sustainability goals through cooperation.

Entry qualifications

-Master of Science degree in a relevant area of business administration.
-Letter of motivation
-Letter(s) of recommendation from thesis supervisor(s)
-Curriculum Vitae
-A well drafted research proposal (5-7 pages) around the topic.
-Co-author statements showing the extent of contributions in prior published work -if applicable
-Fluency in English and good academic writing skills
-Ability to work with both qualitative and quantitative methods
-Highly motivated and hardworking

Fees and funding

This is a self-funded PhD project for UK applicants.