CALL FOR PAPERS FOR A SPECIAL ISSUE
Management and Organization Review
"COOPETITION AND INNOVATION IN TRANSFORMING ECONOMIES"
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: April 30, 2017
Web site:
https://www.cambridge.org/core/news/call-for-papers-management-and-organization-review-special-issue
Guest Editors:
Jay B. Barney
University of Utah
Giovanni Battista Dagnino
University of Catania
Valentina Della Corte
University of Naples ?Federico II?
Eric W.K. Tsang
University of Texas Dallas
Special Issue Theme Background
This Management and Organization Research (MOR) special issue on
"Coopetition and Innovation in Transforming Economies" aims to look at
the key features of strategic relationship between coopetition and
innovation in transforming economies. It is quite straightforward that
in many transforming economies innovation can be a fundamental driver
for economic growth, new employment, dwindling economic disparity, and
boosting wellbeing. Actually, today the booming of factual phenomena
tied to innovation shows that it is rapidly evolving both in contents,
processes and directions: it is no more a factor that takes place
inside the firm but is often bound to the overall set of relationships
a firm has. Therefore, inter-firm collaboration and relational
theories can add value to the research on the process. On the other
hands, recent studies show that competition often fosters innovation
and some competitive dynamics add value to firms? strategies. The two
phenomena: competition and cooperation interact continuously, thus
creating new opportunities, favoring innovation and stimulating change
(Ansari, Garud and Kumaraswami, in press). This condition occurs in
emerging markets with a specific role played by national cultures and
philosophical inspiration (e.g., Taoism, Confucianism, Hinduism, and
Buddhism) that make the way for acceptance of the coopetitive mindset
(Dagnino, Di Guardo and Padula, 2012), fruitful differences between
countries and regional ecologies, as well as for the necessity of fast
growing economies to rely on a mix of coopetition and innovation
spirit so as to accelerate (or keep) the pace of growth and development.
We are aware that the need for forging an interactive approach to
coopetition and innovation has attracted the collective imagery and
the joint attention of researchers, executives, and consultants in
both transforming and established economies. New journals have been
created, new series of workshops, conferences, and seminars have been
launched, and novel communities of academics and/or practitioners have
been inaugurated and progressively solidified. However, it clearly
appears that the key topics (coopetition and innovation), even if
growingly developed in recent years, have not been properly treated in
their reciprocal interconnections. This condition does not come as a
surprise. Interestingly, the two management sub-fields have rather
different origins: while coopetition finds its roots in the study of
competitive and cooperative interaction and game-theoretic strategic
interdependence pioneered by Brandenburger and Nalebuff (1996) and the
yin-yan approach (Chen, 2008; Hong and Snell, 2015), the study of
innovation originates from Schumpeterian and industrial organization
economics inquiry on the impact of the waves of technological change
on industry and market structures (Kelly and Kranzburg, 1978; Dosi,
1982). We believe that researching coopetition and innovation
together, instead of doing it separately, would significantly enhance
our understanding of the phenomenon.
Since limited efforts have been heretofore advanced to bring together
the two research streams in a systematic way and transforming
economies provide the ?natural laboratory? and ?ideal setting? to
study their interfaces (Liu, Luo, Yang and Maksimov, 2014), this MOR
special issue proposes to explore the relationships between
coopetition and innovation by thoroughly detecting and delving into
their relevant interfaces in transforming economies. We have adequate
evidence to believe that fast changing transforming economies outgrow
plenty of opportunities for spurring boundary-crossing dialog and
discourse on the intersection of the key areas of coopetition and
innovation.
In this view, coopetition is considered in a dual perspective:
(1) it is a setting within which to analyze innovation; and
(2) it is a specific strategy (coopetitive strategy ? Dagnino and
Rocco, 2009) that may turn into a source of innovation (Cassiman, Di
Guardo and Valentini, 2009; Gnyawali and Park, 2011; Ritala and
Hurmelinna-Laukkanen, 2013) and, therefore, of value creation and
competitive advantage for firms, industries, and the whole society.
For the reasons above, the MOR special issue seeks to gather an array
of empirical and theoretical contributions that significantly add to
our understanding of the multiple potential connections between
coopetition and innovation in transforming economies.
Since the assembly of a strong set of papers that thoroughly examine
the interplay between coopetition and innovation will help reveal
emerging markets? significant societal changes driven by the outspread
of coopetitive interactions and dynamics, the special issue is highly
relevant to the understanding of multiple evolutionary facets of
transforming economies. Actually, coopetitive interactions are more
complex connections vis-à-vis traditional sheer competitive and
cooperative relationships that require dedicated inquiry (Bengtsson
and Kock, 2014), especially when they knit with innovation. On the
ground of experiences observed in the setting of transforming
economies, the MOR special issue will also attempt to lay the
groundwork to envision and design an array of coopetition techniques
and tools that potentially inform the world of management practice in
the next decade.
Research Questions
Here follows a list of research questions, intended to be neither
exhaustive nor complete, in the context of transforming economies that
we propose to the academic and managerial community in strategy and
innovation management:
? Why do firms decide to ?coopete??
? How do coopetitive settings foster innovation processes?
? How do technological forces drive the process of coopetition?
? What are the implications of coopetitive settings on technological
advancement and adoption of technological standards?
? How can firms protect their propriety technologies while innovating
in coopetitive settings?
? How can firms benefit from the pursuit of coopetition strategies?
? Do coopetition strategies involve both large firms as well as small
and medium enterprises?
? What insights can the cultural perspective offer to the
investigation of the interplay between coopetition and innovation?
? Does coopetition stimulate innovation and the rise of new? Why and how?
? Does innovation foster coopetitive dynamics? If yes, how?
? Does coopetition favor the creation of new markets or the
transformation of existing markets?
? Is coopetition more fit to knowledge-based firms? Why?
? What is the role of coopetition within, between, and among
entrepreneurial accelerators (i.e., incubators, business angels,
seed-corn funds, and venture capital)?
? Is there specificity in grasping coopetitive relations between and
among small and medium firms ?
? How do institutional and environmental conditions favor coopetition
within, between, and among small and medium enterprises as well as
large firms? And between and among foreign and domestic firms?
? What are the main conceptual proximities and linkages between
coopetition and innovation?
? Can coopetition strategy be a source of competitiveness, value
creation and performance? Why is it so?
? Are multinational corporations in a more favorable position than
local firms to innovate while adopting a coopetition strategy?
? Compared with developed economies, does the nature of coopetition
strategy change in some way when applied to transforming economies?
References
Ansari S., Garud R. and Kumaraswamy A. (2016). The disruptor?s
dilemma: TiVo and the U.S. television ecosystem. Strategic Management
Journal, DOI: 10.1002/smj.24425; published online; forthcoming in print.
Bengtsson M., and Kock S. (2014). Coopetition?Quo vadis? Past
accomplishments and future challenges. Industrial Marketing
Management, 43(2): 180-188.
Brandenburger A.M., and Nalebuff B.J. (1996). Co-opetition.
HarperCollins: New York.
Cassiman B., Di Guardo M.C., and Valentini G. (2009). Organising R&D
projects to profit from innovation: Insights from co-opetition. Long
Range Planning, 42(2), 216-233.
Chen, M-J. (2008). Reconceptualizing the Competition-Cooperation
Relationship: A Transparadox Perspective. Journal of Management
Inquiry, 17: 288-304
Dagnino G.B., and Rocco E. (Eds.). (2009). Coopetition Strategy.
Routledge: London.
Dagnino G.B., Di Guardo M.C., and Padula G. (2012). Coopetition:
Nature, Challenges, and Implications for Firms? Strategic Behavior and
Managerial Mindset. In Dagnino GB. (eds.). Handbook of Research on
Competitive Strategy, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK: 492-511.
Dosi G. (1982). Technological paradigms and technological
trajectories. A suggested interpretation of the determinants and
directions of technical change. Research Policy, 11(3):147-162.
Gnyawali D.R., and Park R. (2011). Co-opetition between giants:
Collaboration with competitors for technological innovation. Research
Policy, 40(5): 650-663
Hong J.F.L., and Snell R.S. (2015). Knowledge development through
co-opetition: A case study of a Japanese foreign subsidiary and its
local suppliers. Journal of World Business, 50(4): 769-780.
Kelly P. and Kranzburg M. (1978). Technological Innovation: A Critical
Review of Current Knowledge. San Francisco Press: San Francisco.
Liu Y., Luo Y., Yang P. and Maksimov V. (2014). Typology and Effects
of Co-opetition in Buyer?Supplier Relationships: Evidence from the
Chinese Home Appliance Industry. Management and Organization Review,
10: 439-465.
Ritala P., and Hurmelinna-Laukkanen P. (2013). Incremental and radical
innovation in coopetition ? the role of absorptive capacity and
appropriability. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 30(1):
154-169.
---------------------------------------
Giovanni Battista Dagnino
Deputy Chair and Dean of Research
Department of Economics and Business
University of Catania
Corso Italia, 55
95129 - Catania (Italy)
Tel: 39.095.7537.622
Fax: 39.095.7537.610
E-mail:
dagnino@unict.it
Web site:
www.giovannibattistadagnino.eu