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PhD contract
THESIS PROJECT
Academic year: 2015
1. Topic
Thesis title
“Impact of the spatial dimension on coopetition strategies”
Key words
Coopetition, space, gravity model
2. Supervision
Name
Thesis supervisor Frédéric LE ROY
Co-supervisor
Paul
CHIAMBARETTO
Institution
MRM
e‐mail
[email protected]
Montpellier Business School / p.chiambaretto@montpellierEcole Polytechnique
bs.com
Research group
Thesis committee
Name
Marc ROBERT ?
Pierre-Xavier MESCHI ?
Institution
MRM – Montpellier Business School
IAE Aix
3. Project presentation
This thesis project is part of Project 1: Innovation, Program 3: Inter-organizational strategies and innovation,
of Labex Entreprendre.
Research context
The literature. The topic lies within the research field that focuses on coopetition strategies designed to
strengthen business innovation and performance as a means to enhance competitive advantage (Gnyawali &
Park, 2009; Ritala, 2012). This project specifically deals with the spatial dimension in the adoption of
coopetition strategies.
LABEX ENTREPRENDRE – Université Montpellier – Faculté d’Administration Economique et Sociale
Espace Richter ‐ Avenue Raymond Dugrand – CS 59640 ‐ 34960 Montpellier Cedex 2
www.labex‐entreprendre.fr
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PhD contract
Coopetition agreements may have different objectives; for example, to combine different resources in order
to develop a product that a single enterprise could not produce alone or to pool similar resources to achieve
economies of scale (Bengtsson & Kock, 2000; Lado et al., 1997). The choice of partner is a critical factor in
the success of coopetition strategies and many studies have sought to determine the criteria for choosing
the right partner (Gnyawali & Park, 2009; Fernandez & Le Roy, 2010).
Recent studies on coopetition have demonstrated the importance of the spatial dimension in the choice of
partner (Le Roy et al., 2016). The challenges of coopetition are even greater when the agreements are
between businesses from different countries as these partnership are often more fragile and unstable
because of geographic, political, cultural and other differences (Christoffersen, 2013).
Gap in the theoretical literature. Coopetition researchers have concentrated on the micro-economic level ‒
that is, on the choices made by the involved parties or the alliance (Bengtsson & Kock, 2014; Gnyawali &
Park, 2009). Although firm-level factors have received considerable attention, the macro-economic factors
have been relatively little explored. Other concepts like direct foreign investment and mergers and
acquisitions have been studied at the macro-economic level as a means to understand cross-border trade at
a global scale (Hijzen et al., 2008; Kleinert & Toubal, 2010).
We intend to apply a macro-economic analysis within the framework of coopetition by studying the crossborder coopetition agreements in order to determine the role and factors of the spatial dimension. This
thesis project will use the gravity model to estimate the impact of various spatial determinants on the flow
of coopetition agreements between countries (Tinbergen, 1962; Head & Mayer, 2013). Our results should
contribute to the debate about the maintenance or disappearance of spatial considerations in an
increasingly globalized world (Ghemawat, 2013).
Methods
This research will entail the use of both qualitative and quantitative methods. The first step will use a
qualitative method to determine the spatial determinants in choosing a coopetition partner. The second
step will require quantitative methods to estimate the parameters for applying a gravity model to
coopetition. The databases are SDC Platinum, which is accessible to Project 1, Programme 3, of Labex
Entreprendre, and the CEPII GeoDist database. SDC Platinum contains a wide range of agreement types,
including global coopetition agreements. CEPII’s GeoDist contains bilateral geographic and cultural data from
225 countries, including data on geographic distance and common borders, languages and colonial history,
etc. Data processing will be done using statistical software like SPSS.
REFERENCES
LABEX ENTREPRENDRE – Université Montpellier – Faculté d’Administration Economique et Sociale
Espace Richter ‐ Avenue Raymond Dugrand – CS 59640 ‐ 34960 Montpellier Cedex 2
www.labex‐entreprendre.fr
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•
PhD contract
Bengtsson, Maria ; Kock, Sören (1999) ‘Cooperation and competition in relationships between
competitors in business networks’, Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 14(3), 178–194
•
Bengtsson, Maria ; Kock, Sören (2014) ‘Coopetition—Quo vadis? Past accomplishments and future
challenges’, Industrial Marketing Management, 43(2), 180-188
•
Christoffersen, Jeppe (2013) ‘A Review of Antecedents of International Strategic Alliance
Performance: Synthesized Evidence and New Directions for Core Constructs’, International Journal of
Management Reviews, 15(1), 66–85
•
Fernandez, Anne-Sophie ; Le Roy, Frédéric (2010) ‘Pourquoi coopérer avec un concurrent ?’, Revue
française de gestion, 204(5), 155–169
•
Ghemawat, Pankaj (2013) ‘Redefining Global Strategy : Crossing Borders in a World Where
Differences Still Matter’, Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation; Boston, US
•
Gnyawali, Devi; Park, Byung-Jin (Robert) (2009) ‘Co-opetition and Technological Innovation in Small
and Medium-Sized Enterprises: A Multilevel Conceptual Model’, Journal of Small Business
Management, 47(3), 308–330
•
Head, Keith; Mayer, Thierry (2013) ‘Gravity Equations: Workhorse, Toolkit, and Cookbook’, Centre
for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) Discussion Paper No. DP9322
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Hijzen, Alexander ; Görg, Holger ; Manchin, Miriam (2008) ‘Cross-border merger and acquisitions
and the role of trade costs’, European Economic Review, 52(5), 849–866
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Kleinert, Jörn ; Toubal, Farid (2010) ‘Gravity for FDI’, Review of International Economics, 18(1), 1-13
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Lado, Augustine A. ; Boyd, Nancy G. ; Hanlon, Susan C. (1997) ‘Competition, cooperation, and the
search for economic rents: A syncretic model’, Academy of Management Review, 22(1), 110–141
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Le Roy, Frédéric; Robert, Marc; Lasch, Frank (2016) ‘Choosing the best partner for product
innovation: Talking to the enemy or to a friend?’, International Studies of Management &
Organization, 46(2)
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Ritala, Paavo (2012) ‘Coopetition Strategy – When is it Successful? Empirical Evidence on Innovation
and Market Performance’, British Journal of Management, 23(3), 307–324
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Tinbergen, Jan (1962) ‘Shaping the World Economy: Suggestions for an International Economic
Policy’, Twentieth Century Fund; New York, US
PREFERRED SKILLS
The PhD candidate will need good knowledge of both qualitative and quantitative methods and should be at
ease with big databases like SDC Platinum. The candidate should also have good working knowledge of
English and an interest in coopetition strategies, as well as an interest in spatial and geographic
determinants.
4. Thesis financing
LABEX ENTREPRENDRE – Université Montpellier – Faculté d’Administration Economique et Sociale
Espace Richter ‐ Avenue Raymond Dugrand – CS 59640 ‐ 34960 Montpellier Cedex 2
www.labex‐entreprendre.fr
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Labex Entreprendre will fully fund this PhD position for three years.
PhD contract
LABEX ENTREPRENDRE – Université Montpellier – Faculté d’Administration Economique et Sociale
Espace Richter ‐ Avenue Raymond Dugrand – CS 59640 ‐ 34960 Montpellier Cedex 2
www.labex‐entreprendre.fr
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