8 Collaborate: The Art of We
Cooperation: Even More Signifi cant
Cooperation means a “voluntary arrangement in which two or more enti-
ties engage in a mutually beneficial exchange instead of competing”
(Business Dictionary). In simple terms, it combines the attributes of
coordination with the sharing of resources. us, in addition to exchang-
ing knowledge and synchronizing or adapting activities to achieve a com-
mon goal, cooperation includes the additional element of sharing
business resources other than information. As part of cooperation, we
may share funding, training, employees, workspace, marketing, and legal
advice (Himmelman, 1993). Franklin D. Roosevelt famously said,
“Competition has been shown to be useful up to a certain point ...