Co-opetition

"Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer."
—Michael Corleone
The Godfather, Part 2

Co-opetition is an evolving approach to business relationships, combining competition and cooperation. The term was developed by Ray Noorda, founder of Novell and further developed by Harvard Business School’s Adam Brandenburger and Yale School of Management’s Barry J. Nalebuff in their book Co-opetition published by Currency Doubleday in 1996.

Co-opetition suggests that organizations can be both complementors in making the market and competitors in dividing up the market. In healthcare today, organizations may have multiple roles, competing for certain services, and complementary in other service areas.

The authors propose a Value Net schematic map to help visualize the key players in your universe and the interdependencies. Drawing a Value Net for your organization can help expand your perspective on co-opetition. For a copy of the Value Net Schematic Map, e-mail Pyrce Healthcare Group at phg-inc@ix.netcom.com

Key questions to ask in evaluating your effectiveness in employing co-opetition concepts include:
  • Have you written out the Value Net for your organization, taking care to make the list of players as complete as possible?

  • What are the opportunities for cooperation and competition in your relationships with your customers and suppliers, competitors, and complementors?

  • Would you like to change the cast of players? In particular, what new players would you like to bring into the game?

  • Who stands to gain if you become a player? Who stands to lose?

  • How can you increase your added value? In particular, can you create loyal customers and suppliers?

  • What are the added values of the other players in the game? Is it in your interest to limit their added values?

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