Innovation in the Cultural and Creative Industries

7Coopetition Between Architects: Designing Innovative Projects with Competitors

7.1. Introduction

Over the past 20 years, many companies have been creative in defining and implementing their market strategy. Faced with the new challenges of the 21st Century, such as the weight of technology, the increasing internationalization of activities and new forms of competition, managers have been forced to redefine their strategic approaches. Among the trends observed in many industries, coopetition has gradually emerged as a new way of creating value. This combination of cooperation and competition (Brandenburger and Nalebuff 1996; Bengtsson and Kock 1999) makes it possible to “play both sides” and optimize the strategic gains associated with these two poles. Indeed, coopetition makes it possible to benefit from the advantages of cooperation (sharing resources, cost savings, learning, etc.) while maintaining the virtues of competition (stimulation and questioning, improvement of individual performance, etc.).

To date, most strategic research on coopetition has focused on high-tech activities (Gnyawali and Park 2009) such as aerospace, pharmaceuticals or electronics. Based on the results observed in these industries, we are convinced that coopetition can also embody a successful strategy in a greater diversity of activities and, in particular, within the creative industries. Indeed, recent developments in the creative industries (new technologies, sociological changes, increased competition, ...