Staying alive: Coopetition and competitor oriented behaviour from a pre- to post COVID-19 pandemic era

This study's objective is to investigate the extent to which coopetition (collaboration with rivals) and competitor-oriented practices (knowledge of and acting upon competitors' strengths and weaknesses) helped facilitate the development of owners' capabilities over the pre- through to the immediate post pandemic (COVID-19) period. A retrospective, longitudinal instrumental case study features the under-researched 3-year timescale up to the end of ‘lockdowns' across most countries. Interviews (and secondary data collection) took place with owners of 40 Canadian restaurants associated with different cuisines and possessing respective weak and strong network ties in a single city. New findings highlight how coopetition and competitor-oriented practices facilitated the development and/or enhancement of ‘psychological contracts.' In turn, knowledge of with whom to engage in coopetition activities and the extent of involvement, helped owners to avoid failure, maintain family employment, and sustain other local businesses. Additionally, strategic flexibility enabled owners to pivot aspects of their business models, develop foresight, plus resilience. Unique insights contribute to theory and practice, highlighting that coopetition and competitor-oriented practices changed during the evolving conditions of COVID-19. Owners rapidly transformed certain ‘operational' capabilities into those of a higher level (namely, capabilities of a ‘threshold' and potentially ‘dynamic' nature) to meet changing objectives.

Interfirm collaboration as a performance-enhancing survival strategy within the business models of ethnic minority-owned urban restaurants affected by COVID-19

PurposeGuided by resource-based theory, this investigation examines the extent to which knowledge sharing as part of interfirm collaboration serves as a performance-enhancing strategy;that is, in the context of assisting ethnic minority-owned urban restaurants to survive during a major market disruption. Specifically, the study features owner-managers' perceptions concerning the evolving environmental circumstances associated with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.Design/methodology/approachData collection took place among owner-managers of urban restaurants in a Canadian city during the COVID-19 pandemic in late 2020. This featured semi-structured interviews with restaurants' owner-managers originating from various ethnic origins together with secondary data where possible. Data analysis followed an adapted Gioia approach.FindingsExamples of interfirm collaboration include restaurants' owner-managers leveraging social capital and sharing knowledge about the effects of legislation and health guidelines on operating procedures, together with good and bad practices where firms have pivoted their business models via take-outs, patio dining and in-room dining. Irrespective of the strength of network ties (within and across ethnic communities), owner-managers were motivated to share information to facilitate their survival. Nevertheless, this study raises questions over the extent that certain decision-makers exhibit strategic flexibility responding to environmental conditions together with their respective ability to engage/retain customers plus service-oriented employees. In addition, a question is whether some owner-managers will continue to collaborate with their competitors after COVID-19 ends, and if so, with whom and the magnitude of activities. In particular, "trust” via psychological contracts and "complementary strategies” among partners across coethnic and different ethnic origins are key considerations.Originality/valueA body of knowledge exists addressing the notions of both interfirm collaboration and market disruptions in the broader cross-disciplinary literature. However, the interfirm collaborative practices of small firms with ethnic minority ownership that are otherwise rivals remain under-researched. More specifically, interfirm collaboration as a survival strategy for owner-managers during the market disruption arising from a crisis situation features as an original contribution.

Coopetition and sales performance: evidence from non-mainstream sporting clubs

PurposeSmall sports clubs are the life-blood of particular communities, even though many are under-resourced and have difficulties in operating under an individualistic business model. Although coopetition (simultaneous cooperation and competition) has been recognised as a positive driver of performance, the complexities of this association remain under-researched. Consequently, grounded in resource-based theory and the relational view, the purpose of this current study is to examine the moderating roles of inter-firm conflict and competitive intensity in the coopetition–sales performance relationship.Design/methodology/approachAfter undertaking 25 field interviews, survey data were collected from 151 non-mainstream sporting clubs in New Zealand. This setting was ideal, since it hosts high-degrees of cooperativeness and competitiveness. After assessing the statistical data for all major robustness checks (including common method variance and endogeneity bias), the hypothesised and control paths were tested through a hierarchical regression analysis.FindingsCoopetition had a positive relationship with sales performance, but inter-firm conflict yielded a negative interaction effect. Surprisingly, this link was positively moderated by competitive intensity.Practical implicationsUnder-resourced entrepreneurs (like those in many small sports clubs) should consider cooperating with their competitors, as these strategies can assist them to improve their sales performance. However, they should be careful when engaging in such activities due to the considerable risk that rival firms could behave opportunistically, which might harm their performance. That being said, owner-managers are advantaged if they operate in sectors where there are lots of competitors because there is increased scope to collaborate with “complementary” and trustworthy rivals that can help them to achieve mutually-beneficial outcomes. Indeed, sporting governing bodies (including those that operate on a non-profit basis) should encourage their members to engage in coopetition due to these positive financial consequences.Originality/valueThis investigation contributes to the extant literature by evaluating the competitive forces affecting the link between coopetition and sales performance. Specifically, new evidence emerges on the circumstances where coopetition is (and is not) a performance-enhancing entrepreneurial strategy. Further, this investigation provides unique insights regarding coopetition among non-mainstream sporting clubs, adding new knowledge to the sports entrepreneurship literature. Moreover, by infusing resource-based theory with the relational view, stronger arguments feature how owner-managers can navigate the paradoxical forces that drive coopetition activities. This study ends with several practitioner implications, alongside a series of limitations and avenues for future research.