Beyond the dyad: role of non-competitive partners in coopetitive r&d projects
Sanja Smiljic
International Journal of Innovation Management
R&D projects between multiple partners have been examined by various disciplines at the macro-, micro- and meso-level. Even though scholars have acknowledged the possibility that both competitive and non-competitive partners participate in such projects, we still lack a holistic perspective on their complex interactions. This paper builds on open innovation and coopetition literature to explore the influence of research partners and clusters on the relationships between competing companies in different project phases of R&D projects. The study is based on insights from five coopetitive R&D projects in mature industries. Findings revealed the need for simultaneous involvement of research partners and clusters when establishing the collaboration in the pre-project phase, while research partners have dominant roles in balancing coopetition in both the pre-project and project implementation phases. Propositions are offered to inform future studies and managerial implications are discussed.