Co-opetition / PARTS
Updated 2026-07-31
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
Developed by Adam Brandenburger and Barry Nalebuff, co-opetition treats business as neither pure war nor pure partnership. A game is described by five elements known as PARTS: Players, Added value, Rules, Tactics, and Scope. Changing any element changes the payoffs, which lets a firm convert zero-sum contests into value-creating ones. The complementor, a player whose product makes yours more valuable, is the central addition to standard competition analysis.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Pie-expanding lens: look for ways to grow the market with rivals before dividing it. - PARTS audit: map players, added value, rules, tactics, and scope, then ask what changes if each shifts. - Co-opetition split: cooperate on standards and shared infrastructure, compete on differentiation and share.
Anchor fast decisions
Value creation and value capture are separate problems. Cooperation raises the total value available by pooling standards, infrastructure, or demand, while competition decides who keeps what share. Separating the two lets a firm accept collaboration where it enlarges the pie and fight only where the split is settled.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/4Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coopetitionverified
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