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Reconceptualizing the Competition— Cooperation Relationship

A Transparadox Perspective

Darden Graduate School of Business, University of Virginia, Chenm{at}Darden.Virginia.edu

Although competition and cooperation individually have received much consideration in the strategy field, researchers have given little attention to the fundamental issue of interplay between the two concepts. Nor has a framework been proposed for examining how competition and cooperation interrelate. Given the notion that competition and cooperation exist in a paradoxical, either/or relationship, reexamination of the idea of paradox itself is imperative. This paper converges Western and Eastern ideas to address the need to transcend conventional perspectives of paradox. It proposes a new concept, transparadox, a hybrid of the either/or and both/and perspectives that characterize, respectively, Western and Eastern thought. The transparadox perspective provides an expansive framework within which the range of competition—cooperation interrelationships may be examined. The introduction of three conceptions of competition—cooperation relationships (independent, or binary, opposites; interconnected opposites; and interdependent opposites) provides researchers with platforms for future theoretical development and empirical study.

Key Words: competition • cooperation • business strategy • paradox

This version was published on December 1, 2008

Journal of Management Inquiry, Vol. 17, No. 4, 288-304 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1056492607312577


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