Competing and cooperating globally: how firms’ multimarket contact relates to joint price elevation in coopetition networks
Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing
ISSN: 0885-8624
Article publication date: 13 November 2020
Issue publication date: 12 October 2021
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to draw attention to the familiarity effect among international multimarket contact (MMC) firms on coopetition in the global container shipping industry and to better understand the contingency model of structural holes and in-degree centrality on joint price elevation actions and subsequent performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on competitive dynamics and the literature on networks, a panel data model is developed from 6,489 competitive and 7,146 cooperative actions of the top 21 shipping firms in 18 global arenas with a structured content analysis method being applied.
Findings
Stronger MMC by firms requires increased levels of cooperative actions to elevate prices. This coopetition relationship is enhanced or weakened when the focal firm occupies a higher level of structural hole or position of competitive in-degree centrality.
Practical implications
Shipping liners seeking to cooperate with joint action in oligopolistic markets are offered guidelines and strategies to increase their performance through their actions.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature on coopetition networks by further analyzing interfirm relationships and interactions that enhance performance, while exploring network positioning strategies to mitigate risks.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the editors and anonymous referees for providing helpful comments and suggestions which led to an improvement of the paper.
Funding: This research has been supported by the Ministry of Science Technology (100-2628-H-005-001-MY2, Taiwan).
Conflict of interest statement: There is no actual or potential conflict of interest in relation to this article.
Citation
Chiao, Y.-C., Lin, C.-C. and Huang, C.-J. (2021), "Competing and cooperating globally: how firms’ multimarket contact relates to joint price elevation in coopetition networks", Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Vol. 36 No. 9, pp. 1678-1691. https://doi.org/10.1108/JBIM-01-2020-0063
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited