The Value Net

Brandenburger and Nalebuff (1996) have defined coopetition as a value-creating synergy between the firm and its stakeholders which include among others their customers, suppliers, competitors and complementors.

They suggest therefore the concept of value net, which places a single company between customers and suppliers (= vertical dimension) who can be either complementors or competitors (= horizontal dimension)

By combining business strategy and Game Theory, these authors argue that it is better for competitors to work together rather than go up against each other in contest.

Co-opetition (or coopetition) combines the advantages of both competition and cooperation into a new dynamic model called the Value Net Model, which is largely an elaboration of Porter’s Five Forces Model.