Abstract

Coopetition can be defined as businesses competing and cooperating at the same time in to create value. Since the juxtaposition of competition and cooperation is logically contradictory, coopetitive relationship is paradoxical. In this new competitive relationship, rivals cannot be defined as either "friend" or "enemy". Although the coopetitive strategy gives very effective results especially in technology-based sectors where R&D and new product development activities are intense, it is a very difficult and unstable relationship to maintain due to its paradoxical structure. In a coopetitive relationship, both positive and negative emotions are experienced at the same time, such as doing business together and fearing that the competitor will learn important business secrets, which causes managers to feel stuck between conflicting demands. If the partners do not have the skills to manage their tension, the coopetition can turn into a complete lose/lose situation. In other words, the success of coopetition depends on managing the "paradoxical tension". Although the interest in the coopetition strategy in the international literature is increasing day by day, it can be said that the studies in the national literature are still in the infant stage. Thus, this study aims to contribute to the strategic management literature by revealing the conceptual infrastructure of the competitive strategy in a certain systematic.