Co-opetition as an effective strategy helps in various ways in Project execution. The presentation aims to explain a few.

1. a PMI Mumbai Chapter Initiative
Innovation and Project Management
Co-opetition as a Project
Strategy
Balaji Ramadurai , PMP©
, TCS, Mumbai
Karthik Balaji,
Graduate Student in Petroleum Engg,
University of Southern California

2. a PMI Mumbai Chapter Initiative
Innovation and Project Management
A Project defined
PMBOK implies that Projects generally have the following features
 A project is unique and has a definable goal or purpose, and well-defined in
terms of deliverables or results, in terms of cost, schedule, and performance
requirements.
 All Projects are temporary endeavors undertaken to create a unique product,
service, or result.
 Projects cut across organizational and functional lines.
 Every project is unique, and it involves a great degree of unfamiliarity and
risk
 The organization doing the project usually has something at stake. Hence needs
planning, special scrutiny / effort.
 During the project life cycle, ad hoc organizations to accomplish a goal within
a scheduled time are created which do change when Project moves from one phase
to the next. Once the goal is achieved, the ad hoc organization is disbanded /
may be moved to a steady-state function.

3. a PMI Mumbai Chapter Initiative
Innovation and Project Management
Co-operation, Competition & Co-opetition

4. a PMI Mumbai Chapter Initiative
Innovation and Project Management
Co-operation, Competition & Co-opetition
Coopetition is a dynamic and paradoxical
relation which arises when two companies
collaborate together in some areas, as in
strategic alliances, but simultaneously
compete with each other in other areas.
The current Coopetitive trend favors
horizontally diversified companies as
against vertically integrated companies.
The basis of the strategy :
 Assess the advantages of competitors
 Joining forces and work together -
to gain more market share.
 Pool knowledge and skills to co-
innovate, boost the ecosystem and
create value.

5. a PMI Mumbai Chapter Initiative
Innovation and Project Management
Game of Business - if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em
 Project Manager needs to recognize “co-opetition” as against the traditional methods of competition,
as a more optimal strategy in his own Project or while soliciting services from third party agencies.
 Project Managers need to be aware of the networked nature of the business and its supply chains.
 Business is no more a purely competitive play and he needs to recognize cooperative relationships that
leverage value created by those in the network.
 In essence, Business which was based on Competition where “winner takes all” or “zero-sum” norms,
has given way to “Game Play” with a win-win interaction. In fact there is a duality in all relationships
with respect to win-win and win-lose interactions. The success of most businesses is dependent on:
 the success of others,
 compete to capture value created in the market and
 protect their own interests.
 Competition - the other aspect of co-opetition - occurs after businesses have created value
in the market
 To seek the pie of the market share created, alongwith price, cost and other finite benefits.

6. a PMI Mumbai Chapter Initiative
Innovation and Project Management
THE NATURE OF COOPETITION: COOPETITION STRATEGY IS A
NEW KIND OF INTER-FIRM DYNAMICS
 Who are the players in the Game of
Business?
 Customers, Suppliers, Competitors
 Providers of Complementary products
and services – Also called as
Complementors
• A Complementor gets more attractive, when the
supplier does not have you as his only customer.
• A player is your Competitor when the customer
values your product less when they have the other
player’s product than when they have your product
alone.
• Hence it is A Complementor gets more attractive,
when the supplier does not have you as his only
customer.
The Players - word and notion in coopetition is a mere substitute of the more familiar ‘stakeholders’ in
Project parlance
Our current postulation suggests this, with a variation. We will define the term coopetitors to embrace - in
addition to suppliers, customers and complementors - a fourth pivotal group of strategic players; i.e., the
firm’s competitors

7. a PMI Mumbai Chapter Initiative
Innovation and Project Management
Co-opetition and Project Management
Access to
rare tangible
& intangible
resources
Learning,
access to
advanced
technology
Acquiring
qualified
labor
Acquiring
scale &
scope
Accessing
new
markets
Limitation
of risk
Time
saving
Increase of
bargaining
power
Easier
diversification
of activity
Increase in
organizational
and strategic
flexibility
Increase in
added value
for customers
Lowering of costs
and improvement of
financial results,
thanks to benefits

8. a PMI Mumbai Chapter Initiative
Innovation and Project Management
Effective Co-opetition Strategies
Extended market penetration leveraged on
Complementary strengths of the players:
 Rare to find two competitors having
exactly the same capabilities – in
development, marketing, distribution, or
customer support.
 A strategic partnership, negotiated with a
win-win attitude, can accomplish growth
faster and cheaper than either could do
alone
Ability to up-sell customers with related products. :
 In many cases, the products / services from competitive
companies are complementary, or many customers are natural
candidates for both.
Ex: PC manufacturers tend to sell extended warranty products at the point of
sale.
Capitalize on shared costs and
common distribution :
 Similar companies, even
though competitors, usually
face economies of scale and
overlapping distribution
channels. Hence the synergy
Ex: The auto industry learned this a
long time ago. Even the giant General
Motors has alliances with smaller
competitors, like Peugeot, to reach
certain small car segments.
Ansoff Matrix

9. a PMI Mumbai Chapter Initiative
Innovation and Project Management
Effective Co-opetition Strategies (Contd)
Creating new solutions by bundling and product
integration :
 Repackaging Contracts, it’s quicker & simpler to
extend your product line with coopetition, rather
than funding new development.
 This helps when a new solution takes business
away from a common enemy, & strengthens
market positions of both.
Ex: Many Major equipment manufacturers offer O&M
services to enhance sale-ability. Similarly, End
user companies evaluate contractors based on Life
Cycle costs including O&M services.
Affiliate marketing and link exchange agreements :
 . Affiliate marketing is "an agreement where one firm (the marketer) compensates another firm (the affiliate) for
generating transactions from its users. Growing business of both parties without sacrificing customers from either
This approach has been used for years, and implies very little risk, many EPC companies are “too busy” to pursuing possible partners.
They resort to simple referral fees to bring business and a larger pie of business.
Competitors can transform into
strategic investors or merger
candidates :
 Good strategic partnerships often
lead to strategic investments, or
great acquisition relationships.
Many large technology companies, like HP
and Apple, routinely buy successful &
known startup competitors rather than
developing new products from scratch.
(Ex: Apple bought over Siri)
They also manage internal venture funds
that may be your growth lifeline. Ex: Auto
companies

10. a PMI Mumbai Chapter Initiative
Innovation and Project Management
There are many more things to say on
Coopetition - but at a later date and
occasion, we can extend this discussion
THANK YOU