Coopetitive value creation in entrepreneurial contexts: the case of AlmaCube

In the burgeoning coopetition strategy literature, scarce attention has been paid so far to the role of coopetitive system of value creation in entrepreneurial contexts. With the aim of epitomizing a coopetitive system of value creation, we draw attention to the fact that coopetition does not simply emerge from coupling competition and cooperation issues, but it rather implies that cooperation and competition merge together to form a new kind of strategic interdependence between firms. Accordingly, coopetition strategy concerns interfirm strategy that allows the firms involved to manage a partially convergent interest and goal structure and to create value by means of coopetitive advantage. Drawing on a parsimonious set of theoretical antecedents (Dagnino and Padula, 2002; Dagnino and Mariani, 2007; Padula and Dagnino, 2007), this paper elaborates a comprehensive framework where the emergence of coopetition is linked to the configuration process of entrepreneurial strategies. In more detail, the paper focuses on the strategic role of the entrepreneurial firm in bridging the gap between the capability space and the opportunity space, by characterizing entrepreneurial coopetitive strategies according to the required objectives of execution vs innovation. Consequently, we show how coopetition can be the appropriate blaze to spark value creation in entrepreneurial contexts, where entrepreneurial firms have to select their strategic courses of action by capturing the right and well-timed opportunities frequently making use of limited capability base. Finally, the notion of coopetitive analysis, where the actors involved interact coopetitively, is introduced and illustrated as an appealing tool effective to recognize the potential for creating and sustaining coopetitive advantage in shifting entrepreneurial contexts. A few business mini-cases, where coopetition emerges in a variety of entrepreneurial contexts, illustrate how coopetitive analysis can be supportive of entrepreneurial strategies under the budding regìme of coopetition.