Title: One for all or everyone for themselves: why is coopetition so difficult? The case of four small vineyards in central France

Authors: Anne Albert-Cromarias; Alexandre Asselineau

Addresses: ESC Clermont Business School, CleRMa, 4 Boulevard Trudaine, 63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France ' CEREN EA 7477, Burgundy School of Business, Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté, 29 Rue Sambin, 21000 Dijon, France

Abstract: This article deals with the mechanism of coopetition formation from a network perspective, focusing in the wine industry. Through a comprehensive approach, we study the case of four vineyards in central France that are located in a low-profile wine-growing region and made up of very small firms fighting in a highly competitive market. While everything seems to encourage them to collaborate, these vineyards have so far remained unable to develop an effective coopetition strategy beyond a few specific initiatives. We seek to identify the reasons for these difficulties by analysing exogenous and endogenous coopetitive drivers. Our results provide theoretical contributions theory by showing that: the formation stage can lead to effective or ineffective coopetition; coopetition in an embedded network is specific; and coopetition intentionality plays a role in this formation stage.

Keywords: coopetition; network; coopetition formation; small business; wine; France.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2024.138775

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2024 Vol.52 No.3, pp.412 - 430

Received: 19 Dec 2020
Accepted: 25 Mar 2022
Published online: 31 May 2024 *

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