IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/asiapa/v39y2022i1d10.1007_s10490-020-09733-x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Coopetition for innovation in R&D consortia: Moderating roles of size disparity and formal interaction

Author

Listed:
  • Xiaotian Yang

    (Waseda University)

Abstract

Increasingly, firms are forming alliances to engage in cooperative innovation activities with their competitors. Participating firms in an R&D consortium can not only obtain the general benefits from cooperation, but also further promote communication and mutual learning due to the common knowledge base with their competitors in the consortium. However, R&D consortium as a typical cooperative innovation alliance has downsides too - competition in a cooperative consortium provides member firms with not only benefits, but also challenges. The opportunistic nature of competition poses a dilemma for member firms when they decide how much effort should be committed to cooperative R&D activities. This study aims to investigate the benefits and costs of competition for firm innovation in cooperative R&D consortia. The study will also identify the boundary conditions to amplify the advantages of competition in terms of the network properties of consortia. The study employs data from 649 firms in 50 Japanese R&D consortia to analyze the curvilinear relationship between the intensity of competition and firm innovation in a cooperative consortium. It was found that a focal firm with a moderate level of competition will have better innovation performance compared to those with either a low or high level of competition. Moreover, it investigates the moderating roles of the firms’ size disparity of R&D consortia and the consortium-organized interaction. The results indicate that the R&D consortium with a low size disparity amplifies the linear effect of the competition on cooperative innovation, which can help the focal firm achieve more gains from cooperative R&D. The consortium-organized interaction strengthens the curvilinear effect of the competition intensity on innovation. This study, using resource dependence theory and social network lenses, extends our understanding of the role of coopetition in firm innovation performance by filling the gap in when and to what extent the intensity of competition matters in multiparty cooperative R&D consortia. It also provides new evidence on the boundary conditions of R&D consortia managing the tension.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiaotian Yang, 2022. "Coopetition for innovation in R&D consortia: Moderating roles of size disparity and formal interaction," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 39(1), pages 79-102, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:asiapa:v:39:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1007_s10490-020-09733-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s10490-020-09733-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10490-020-09733-x
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10490-020-09733-x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jay Pil Choi & Subhasish M. Chowdhury & Jaesoo Kim, 2016. "Group Contests with Internal Conflict and Power Asymmetry," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 118(4), pages 816-840, October.
    2. Loet Leydesdorff & Duncan Kushnir & Ismael Rafols, 2014. "Interactive overlay maps for US patent (USPTO) data based on International Patent Classification (IPC)," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 98(3), pages 1583-1599, March.
    3. Guan, Jiancheng & Liu, Na, 2016. "Exploitative and exploratory innovations in knowledge network and collaboration network: A patent analysis in the technological field of nano-energy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 97-112.
    4. Jing‐Wen Huang & Yong‐Hui Li, 2009. "The mediating effect of knowledge management on social interaction and innovation performance," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 30(3), pages 285-301, June.
    5. Wang, Jian, 2016. "Knowledge creation in collaboration networks: Effects of tie configuration," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 68-80.
    6. Justin J. P. Jansen & Frans A. J. Van Den Bosch & Henk W. Volberda, 2006. "Exploratory Innovation, Exploitative Innovation, and Performance: Effects of Organizational Antecedents and Environmental Moderators," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(11), pages 1661-1674, November.
    7. Nick Johnstone & Ivan Haščič & David Popp, 2010. "Renewable Energy Policies and Technological Innovation: Evidence Based on Patent Counts," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 45(1), pages 133-155, January.
    8. Johanna Gast & Matthias Filser & Katherine Gundolf & Sascha Kraus, 2015. "Coopetition research: towards a better understanding of past trends and future directions," Post-Print hal-02010684, HAL.
    9. Jo Thori Lind & Halvor Mehlum, 2010. "With or Without U? The Appropriate Test for a U‐Shaped Relationship," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 72(1), pages 109-118, February.
    10. Lee G. Branstetter & Mariko Sakakibara, 2002. "When Do Research Consortia Work Well and Why? Evidence from Japanese Panel Data," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(1), pages 143-159, March.
    11. Richard F. J. Haans & Constant Pieters & Zi-Lin He, 2016. "Thinking about U: Theorizing and testing U- and inverted U-shaped relationships in strategy research," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(7), pages 1177-1195, July.
    12. Chen, Kun & Kenney, Martin, 2007. "Universities/Research Institutes and Regional Innovation Systems: The Cases of Beijing and Shenzhen," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(6), pages 1056-1074, June.
    13. Victor Cui & Haibin Yang & Ilan Vertinsky, 2018. "Attacking your partners: Strategic alliances and competition between partners in product markets," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(12), pages 3116-3139, December.
    14. Ricarda Bouncken & Johanna Gast & Sascha Kraus & Marcel Bogers, 2015. "Coopetition: a systematic review, synthesis, and future research directions," Post-Print hal-02018068, HAL.
    15. Jianghua Zhou & Rui Wu & Jizhen Li, 2019. "More ties the merrier? Different social ties and firm innovation performance," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 36(2), pages 445-471, June.
    16. Ricarda Bouncken & Johanna Gast & Sascha Kraus & Marcel Bogers, 2015. "Coopetition: a systematic review, synthesis, and future research directions," Post-Print hal-02945341, HAL.
    17. MB Sarkar & RAJ Echambadi & Jeffrey S. Harrison, 2001. "Alliance entrepreneurship and firm market performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(6‐7), pages 701-711, June.
    18. Johanna Gast & Matthias Filser & Katherine Gundolf & Sascha Kraus, 2015. "Coopetition research: towards a better understanding of past trends and future directions," Post-Print hal-02945435, HAL.
    19. Fabrizio, Kira R., 2009. "Absorptive capacity and the search for innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 255-267, March.
    20. Kandel, Eugene & Lazear, Edward P, 1992. "Peer Pressure and Partnerships," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(4), pages 801-817, August.
    21. APJM Editorial Team, 2020. "Making contributions beyond theory-based studies: From the APJM editorial team," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 37(1), pages 1-6, March.
    22. Czernek, Katarzyna & Czakon, Wojciech, 2016. "Trust-building processes in tourist coopetition: The case of a Polish region," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 380-394.
    23. Frédéric Le Roy & Wojciech Czakon, 2016. "Managing coopetition: the missing link between strategy and performance," Post-Print hal-02012534, HAL.
    24. Mark Rogers, 2004. "Networks, Firm Size and Innovation," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 141-153, March.
    25. Zvi Griliches, 1998. "The Search for R&D Spillovers," NBER Chapters, in: R&D and Productivity: The Econometric Evidence, pages 251-268, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    26. Navid Asgari & Vivek Tandon & Kulwant Singh & Will Mitchell, 2018. "Creating and taming discord: How firms manage embedded competition in alliance portfolios to limit alliance termination," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(12), pages 3273-3299, December.
    27. Bouncken, Ricarda B. & Fredrich, Viktor, 2016. "Business model innovation in alliances: Successful configurations," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(9), pages 3584-3590.
    28. Luo, Yadong, 2007. "A coopetition perspective of global competition," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 129-144, June.
    29. Lihua Wang & Edward J. Zajac, 2007. "Alliance or acquisition? a dyadic perspective on interfirm resource combinations," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(13), pages 1291-1317, December.
    30. Daphne W. Yiu & Long W. Lam & Ajai Gaur & Seung-Hyun Lee & Chi-Sum Wong, 2018. "Asian relevance, global impact: Asian management research entering a new era," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 35(3), pages 565-571, September.
    31. Kim, Chang-Su & Inkpen, Andrew C., 2005. "Cross-border R&D alliances, absorptive capacity and technology learning," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 11(3), pages 313-329, September.
    32. Gnyawali, Devi R. & Park, Byung-Jin (Robert), 2011. "Co-opetition between giants: Collaboration with competitors for technological innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(5), pages 650-663, June.
    33. Jeffrey H. Dyer & Kentaro Nobeoka, 2000. "Creating and managing a high‐performance knowledge‐sharing network: the Toyota case," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(3), pages 345-367, March.
    34. Lee, Cheng-Yu & Wang, Ming-Chao & Huang, Yen-Chih, 2015. "The double-edged sword of technological diversity in R&D alliances: Network position and learning speed as moderators," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 450-461.
    35. Huang, Kuo-Feng & Lin, Ku-Ho & Wu, Lei-Yu & Yu, Pang-Hsiang, 2015. "Absorptive capacity and autonomous R&D climate roles in firm innovation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 87-94.
    36. Monaghan, Sinéad & Lavelle, Jonathan & Gunnigle, Patrick, 2017. "Mapping networks: Exploring the utility of social network analysis in management research and practice," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 136-144.
    37. Gudergan, Siegfried P. & Devinney, Timothy M. & Susan Ellis, R., 2016. "Cooperation and compliance in non-equity alliances," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(5), pages 1759-1764.
    38. Gerben S. Van der Vegt & Simon B. de Jong & J. Stuart Bunderson & Eric Molleman, 2010. "Power Asymmetry and Learning in Teams: The Moderating Role of Performance Feedback," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(2), pages 347-361, April.
    39. Johanna Gast & Matthias Filser & Katherine Gundolf & Sascha Kraus, 2015. "Coopetition research: towards a better understanding of past trends and future directions," International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 24(4), pages 492-521.
    40. Corey C. Phelps, 2010. "A longitudinal study of the influence of alliance network structure and composition on firm exploratory innovation," Post-Print hal-00528392, HAL.
    41. Nishimura, Junichi & Okamuro, Hiroyuki, 2018. "Internal and external discipline: The effect of project leadership and government monitoring on the performance of publicly funded R&D consortia," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(5), pages 840-853.
    42. Kuo-Feng Huang & Chwo-Ming Yu, 2011. "The effect of competitive and non-competitive R&D collaboration on firm innovation," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 36(4), pages 383-403, August.
    43. Okamuro, Hiroyuki & Nishimura, Junichi, 2018. "Whose business is your project? A comparative study of different subsidy policy schemes for collaborative R&D," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 85-96.
    44. Fabio Fonti & Massimo Maoret & Robert Whitbred, 2017. "Free-riding in multi-party alliances: The role of perceived alliance effectiveness and peers' collaboration in a research consortium," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(2), pages 363-383, February.
    45. Werner Hoffmann & Dovev Lavie & Jeffrey J. Reuer & Andrew Shipilov, 2018. "The interplay of competition and cooperation," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(12), pages 3033-3052, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Patrycja Klimas & Ali Ashraf Ahmadian & Morteza Soltani & Meisam Shahbazi & Ali Hamidizadeh, 2023. "Coopetition, Where Do You Come From? Identification, Categorization, and Configuration of Theoretical Roots of Coopetition," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(1), pages 21582440221, January.
    2. Mierzejewska Wioletta, 2023. "Does coopetition pay off? Benefits of intra-organizational coopetition within business groups," International Journal of Management and Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, Collegium of World Economy, vol. 59(2), pages 150-167, June.
    3. Sascha Kraus & Fabian Meier & Thomas Niemand & Ricarda B. Bouncken & Paavo Ritala, 2018. "In search for the ideal coopetition partner: an experimental study," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 12(4), pages 1025-1053, October.
    4. Raza-Ullah, Tatbeeq & Bengtsson, Maria & Gnyawali, Devi R., 2020. "The nature, consequences, and management of emotions in interfirm paradoxical relationships—A conceptual framework," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 36(4).
    5. Yadav, Neetu & Kumar, Roopesh & Malik, Ashish, 2022. "Global developments in coopetition research: A bibliometric analysis of research articles published between 2010 and 2020," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 495-508.
    6. Vladimir Vanyushyn & Maria Bengtsson & Malin H. Näsholm & Håkan Boter, 2018. "International coopetition for innovation: Are the benefits worth the challenges?," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 535-557, March.
    7. Carlos Devece & D. Enrique Ribeiro-Soriano & Daniel Palacios-Marqués, 2019. "Coopetition as the new trend in inter-firm alliances: literature review and research patterns," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 207-226, April.
    8. Czakon, Wojciech & Niemand, Thomas & Gast, Johanna & Kraus, Sascha & Frühstück, Lisa, 2020. "Designing coopetition for radical innovation: An experimental study of managers' preferences for developing self-driving electric cars," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    9. Norat Roig‐Tierno & Sascha Kraus & Sonia Cruz, 2018. "The relation between coopetition and innovation/entrepreneurship," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 379-383, March.
    10. Carolina Rojas-Córdova & Amanda J. Williamson & Julio A. Pertuze & Gustavo Calvo, 2023. "Why one strategy does not fit all: a systematic review on exploration–exploitation in different organizational archetypes," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 17(7), pages 2251-2295, October.
    11. Steffen Runge & Christian Schwens & Matthias Schulz, 2022. "The invention performance implications of coopetition: How technological, geographical, and product market overlaps shape learning and competitive tension in R&D alliances," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(2), pages 266-294, February.
    12. Bacon, Emily & Williams, Michael D. & Davies, Gareth, 2020. "Coopetition in innovation ecosystems: A comparative analysis of knowledge transfer configurations," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 307-316.
    13. Fonseca Cristina & Meneses Raquel, 2020. "Motivations for Coopetition Strategies between Banks and Fintechs," Proceedings of the International Conference on Business Excellence, Sciendo, vol. 14(1), pages 282-293, July.
    14. Xie, Qiuhao & Gao, Ying & Xia, Nini & Zhang, Shuibo & Tao, Guowu, 2023. "Coopetition and organizational performance outcomes: A meta-analysis of the main and moderator effects," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    15. Vik Pant & Eric Yu, 2018. "Modeling Simultaneous Cooperation and Competition Among Enterprises," Business & Information Systems Engineering: The International Journal of WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK, Springer;Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI), vol. 60(1), pages 39-54, February.
    16. Arakpogun, Emmanuel Ogiemwonyi & Elsahn, Ziad & Nyuur, Richard B. & Olan, Femi, 2020. "Threading the needle of the digital divide in Africa: The barriers and mitigations of infrastructure sharing," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    17. Pei-Li Yu, 2019. "Interfirm coopetition, trust, and opportunism: a mediated moderation model," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 13(5), pages 1069-1092, November.
    18. Garri, Myropi, 2021. "Coopetition, value co-creation, and knowledge-enhancement in the UK alpaca industry: A multi-level mechanism," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 545-557.
    19. Patrycja Klimas & Wojciech Czakon, 2018. "Organizational innovativeness and coopetition: a study of video game developers," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 469-497, March.
    20. Youngwook Ko & Yanghon Chung & Hangyeol Seo, 2020. "Coopetition for Sustainable Competitiveness: R&D Collaboration in Perspective of Productivity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-18, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:asiapa:v:39:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1007_s10490-020-09733-x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.