Coopetition: a systematic review, synthesis, and future research directions

Coopetition describes an interorganizational relationship that combines “cooperation” and “competition”. During recent years, coopetition has become an important domain for industrial practice which has led to an increasing rate of publications in academic journals. Despite the growing interest, coopetition research is still fragmented, reflected by divergent uses of the coopetition concept, a lack of generalizability, and a limited contextual focus. This article presents a systematic literature review and a synthesis of high-quality contributions in this field with a focus on a general overview of research on coopetition, coopetition as a strategy, and the management of coopetition. By critically evaluating the current body of literature and definitions, and connecting it to other promising domains, we develop a new definition of coopetition and highlight several promising areas for future research, such as the elaboration of theoretical and empirical approaches, the consideration of contextual contingencies, and implications for innovation that involves interorganizational knowledge flow.