Barbara Jankowska “Coopetition and Internationalization of a Company – the Case of Firms in the Wielkopolska Voivodeship”, Journal of International Studies, Vol. 3, No 1, 2010, pp. 94-102.

Coopetition and Internationalization of a Company – the Case of Firms in the Wielkopolska Voivodeship

Barbara Jankowska

Department of Strategy and Policy of International Competitiveness

Poznan University of Economics

barbara.jankowska@ue.poznan.pl

Abstract. Cooperation and competition as organizational relationships or interactions between two or more organizations have been traditionally perceived as opposites. Behaviour of enterprises has been changing and one can notice that more and more organizations are involved in these two types of relations simultaneously. This paradoxical phenomenon is named as coopetition. The paper focuses on coopetition and internationalization of a company. Coopetition is a multi-dimensional and multi-faceted phenomenon. In this study, the author attempts to identify the interdependencies between the intensity of coopetition and internationalization of a company. On the basis of literature review the author highlights the theoretical background of the concept of coopetition and conceptualizes the term of coopetition. There are proposed three indicators which can be used in order to assess the intensity of coopetition. The theoretical part of the paper is accompanied by the presentation of the results of empirical research which was conducted among fifty two manufacturing and construction companies involved at least in export as an internationalization strategy and located in Wielkopolska. It is located in the western part of Poland and belongs to the best economically prosperous regions in Poland.

Submitted: April, 2010

1^st revision: May, 2010

Accepted: June, 2010

Keywords: coopetition, internationalization, enterprise, competitiveness, SME.

JEL classification: F23, D21.