Analysis of a conflictual coopetition dynamics
Recent works in strategic management lead us to go beyond the opposition between competitive and relational paradigms. If advantages of coopetition are now wellknown, dynamics of relationships between partners-competitors still need to be explored. Some authors call for the analysis of new contexts of coopetition, not only in high-tech sectors. In this article, we investigate the conflict effects on the coopetitive dynamics in a traditional sector, and we wonder about the viability of such a strategy. The 2006 ranking of Saint-Emilion’s wines is particulary relevant to study strategic sequences of cooperation and competition under a crisis context. Through this case, we show that the crisis generated an evolution of the coopetition type, which wasn’t able to create value because of a learning deficit. We stress the importance of coopetition regulation through rules and a third-actor. Future research could analyze the importance of tradition in the coopetition dynamics.