The economics of the smart card industry: Towards coopetitive strategies

This article uses an explorative case study of the smart card industry where ‘coopetition’ is to be found. We show that the nature of interaction between smart card actors, dealing with industry and market conditions that create a very complex competitive landscape, constitutes a mix of competition and cooperation. Here, we assume that the paradoxical aspect of competition and cooperation [Quinn, R.E. and Cameron, K.S. (1988) Paradox and Transformation. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger] can be juxtaposed in order to understand the strategic phenomena characterizing actors' interactions. Actors cooperate in some activities and compete on other ones. Such strategic behaviour is called coopetitive strategy, which is increasingly adopted by high-tech industry players.

[1]  von Tunzelmann,et al.  Localized Technological Search And Multi-Technology Companies , 1998 .

[2]  François Thérin,et al.  Building strategy on technological resources and commercial proactiveness: The Gemplus case , 1997 .

[3]  Michael Dowling,et al.  Multifaceted Relationships Under Coopetition , 1996 .

[4]  J. Barney.  Strategic Factor Markets: Expectations, Luck, and Business Strategy , 1986 .

[5]  Staffan Jacobsson,et al.  Innovation systems: analytical and methodological issues , 2002 .

[6]  Keith Hayward,et al.  Technological collaboration in industry: strategy, policy and internationalization in innovation , 1994 .

[7]  D. Keeble,et al.  Technological convergence, globalisation and ownership in the UK computer industry , 2000 .

[8]  B. Wernerfelt,et al.  A Resource-Based View of the Firm , 1984 .

[9]  Augustine A. Lado,et al.  COMPETITION, COOPERATION, AND THE SEARCH FOR ECONOMIC RENTS: A SYNCRETIC MODEL , 1997 .

[10]  M. Bengtsson,et al.  ”Coopetition” in Business Networks—to Cooperate and Compete Simultaneously , 2000 .

[11]  Jorma Ollila.  The making of global standards in the GIS of the 21st century , 1998 .

[12]  B. Kogut.  Joint ventures: Theoretical and empirical perspectives , 1988 .

[13]  R. Grant.  The Resource-Based Theory of Competitive Advantage: Implications for Strategy Formulation , 1991 .

[14]  B. Kogut.  The Stability of Joint Ventures: Reciprocity and Competitive Rivalry , 1989 .

[15]  Henrik Glimstedt,et al.  COMPETITIVE DYNAMICS OF TECHNOLOGICAL STANDARDIZATION: THE CASE OF THIRD GENERATION CELLULAR COMMUNICATIONS , 2001 .

[16]  Austen Albu.  Organisation of Industry , 2021, Nature.

[17]  Marco Iansiti,et al.  From technological potential to product performance: an empirical analysis , 1997 .

[18]  Stéphane Lallich,et al.  LOCATION OF INNOVATING ACTIVITIES, INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURE AND TECHNO-INDUSTRIAL CLUSTERS IN THE FRENCH ECONOMY, 1985-1990. EVIDENCE FROM US PATENTING , 1998 .

[19]  Bo Bernhard Nielsen,et al.  Synergies in Strategic Alliances: Motivation and Outcomes of Complementary and Synergistic Knowledge Networks , 2000 .

[20]  Benjamin Gomes-Casseres.  Group versus group: How alliance networks compete , 1994 .

[21]  R. Rumelt.  Towards a Strategic Theory of the Firm , 1984 .

[22]  C. Prahalad,et al.  The core competence of the corporation’, Harvard Business Review, Vol. pp. . , 1990 .

[23]  C. A. Benavides-Velasco,et al.  Cooperation, competition, and innovative capability: a panel data of European dedicated biotechnology firms , 2004 .

[24]  C. Antonelli.  Localized technological change and the evolution of standards as economic institutions , 1994 .

[25]  Alain Verbeke,et al.  Can Market-Based Contracts Substitute for Alliances in High Technology Markets? , 1996 .

[26]  Catherine Allen,et al.  Smart Cards: Seizing Strategic Business Opportunities , 1996 .

[27]  Devi R. Gnyawali,et al.  Cooperative Networks and Competitive Dynamics: a Structural Embeddedness Perspective , 2001 .

[28]  Dominique Foray,et al.  Coalitions and committees: how users get involved in information technology standardization , 1994 .

[29]  M. Russo,et al.  A Resource-Based Perspective On Corporate Environmental Performance And Profitability , 1997 .

[30]  B. Carlsson,et al.  On the nature, function and composition of technological systems , 1991 .

[31]  O. Williamson.  / STRATEGIZING, ECONOMIZING, AND ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION , 1991 .

[32]  Arvind Parkhe.  Strategic Alliance Structuring: A Game Theoretic and Transaction Cost Examination of Interfirm Cooperation , 1993 .

[33]  R. Gulati,et al.  The Architecture of Cooperation: Managing Coordination Costs and Appropriation Concerns in Strategic Alliances , 1998 .

[34]  K. Lancaster,et al.  Variety, equity, and efficiency , 1979 .

[35]  Groupe d'études des stratégies technologiques.  Grappes technologiques : les nouvelles stratégies d'entreprise , 1986 .

[36]  O. Williamson,et al.  Markets and Hierarchies: Analysis and Antitrust Implications. , 1977 .

[37]  S. Park,et al.  When competition eclipses cooperation: an event history analysis of joint venture failure , 1996 .

[38]  Jean-Benoît Zimmermann,et al.  Le concept de grappes technologiques. Un cadre formel. , 1995, Revue économique.

[39]  Elias G. Carayannis,et al.  Virtual, wireless mannah: a co-opetitive analysis of the broadband satellite industry , 2001 .

[40]  Parimal Patel,et al.  The continuing, widespread (and neglected) importance of improvements in mechanical technologies , 1994 .

[41]  Niels G. Noorderhaven,et al.  Opportunism and trust in transaction cost economics , 1994 .

[42]  Eric W. K. Tsang.  Motives for strategic alliance: A resource-based perspective , 1998 .

[43]  Olivier Weinstein,et al.  Les nouvelles théories de l'entreprise , 1995 .

[44]  C. Prahalad,et al.  The Core Competence of the Corporation , 1990 .

[45]  P. Lorange,et al.  The Growth of Alliances in the Knowledge-Based Economy , 2002, Organizational Collaboration.

[46]  D. Teece,et al.  The Dynamic Capabilities of Firms: an Introduction , 1994 .

[47]  Smart card industry: a technological system , 2005 .