<blockquote>When a business strategy is so new in design, a new word must be coined to capture its value. Such is the case with co-opetition, a method that goes beyond the old rules of competition and cooperation to combine the advantages of both. Co-opetition means cooperating to create a bigger business "pie," while competing to divide it up.

The Harvard Business School's Adam M. Brandenburger and the Yale School of Management's Barry J. Nalebuff, scholars and consultants, have developed a five-part business strategy that shows how to do more than play the game of business. It shows how you can <em>change the game</em>." <strong>Source:</strong> <a href="http://mayet.som.yale.edu/coopetition/">Co-opetition Interactive</a></blockquote>

<blockquote>What is CO-OPETITION?

CO-OPETITION is a new way of thinking about business. Some people see business entirely as competition. They think doing business is waging war and assume they can't win unless somebody else loses. Other people see business entirely as co-operation-teams and partnerships. But business is both co-operation and competition. It's CO-OPETITION. That's why we've chosen CO-OPETITION as our title, a word coined by Ray Noorda, founder of the networking software company Novell: "You have to compete and cooperate at the same time."

How does someone put this idea of CO-OPETITION into practice?

The key is looking at business as a "game." Once you do, you can much more easily spot both the competitive and cooperative aspects of what's going on. Then, after you have a more complete picture of what's going on, there are some simple concepts from game theory that allow you to change the game so you'll do better....

The greatest rewards in business don't come from accepting passively the game you find. Rewards come from choosing the game you want and adapting it to serve your own purposes." <strong>Source:</strong> <a href="http://mayet.som.yale.edu/coopetition/answers.html">Co-opetition Interactive</a></blockquote>