What's in it for me? Creating and appropriating value in innovation-related coopetition

There has been a substantial increase in collaboration with external stakeholders in R&D and innovation activities in modern economies. In particular, collaborating with competitors (coopetition) has been found to be an effective way of creating both incremental and radical innovations, especially in high-tech industries. However, coopetition also includes some major risks and disadvantages, which makes it undesirable in certain cases. The focus in this study is on the factors that distinguish coopetition from collaboration. We propose that the ability of a firm to reap benefits in innovation-related coopetition is contingent on factors that enable collective value creation, and on those that facilitate the individual isolation of the innovations and any subsequent profits. Further, we suggest that the effectiveness of these factors depends on the novelty of the innovation with respect to current markets and technology. In explicitly analyzing such issues we aim to expand current understanding of how firms can create and appropriate value in collaborative R&D and innovation with competitors as specific partners. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.