Competition versus Cooperation

Abstract

There are many factors that determine the structure of competition in the environment of growing globalisation. Of these, the factors which predominate the nature of competition include not only rivals, but also the economics of particular industries, new entrants, the bargaining power of customers and suppliers, and the threat of substitute services or products. Hence, competition seems to be inevitable. However, collaboration in business strategy may be considered analogous with the cooperation in reference to the prevailing concerns of the globalisation. This chapter delineates the driving factors behind the ideologies of the strategy formulation through competition and cooperation. The arguments in the chapter are woven around socio-economic human behavioural paradigms and analytically discuss the strategic fit of competition and cooperation maxims intended towards the growth of business in a firm. The motivation on these juxtaposed issues of competition and cooperation has been derived by reviewing the ideologies debated over the recent past. The chapter discusses managerial implications explaining the process map for both competition-and cooperation-oriented practices and their impact on business growth.