Co-Opetition [Paperback]

Adam M. Brandenburger (Author), Barry J. Nalebuff (Author)

Book Description

Release date: December 29, 1997

Now available in paperback, with an all new Reader's guide, The New York Times and Business Week bestseller Co-opetition revolutionized the game of business. With over 40,000 copies sold and now in its 9th printing, Co-opetition is a business strategy that goes beyond the old rules of competition and cooperation to combine the advantages of both. Co-opetition is a pioneering, high profit means of leveraging business relationships.



Intel, Nintendo, American Express, NutraSweet, American Airlines, and dozens of other companies have been using the strategies of co-opetition to change the game of business to their benefit. Formulating strategies based on game theory, authors Brandenburger and Nalebuff created a book that's insightful and instructive for managers eager to move their companies into a new mind set.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Losing and winning are two extremes by which businesses are often measured. Brandenburger (Harvard Business Sch.) and Nalebuff (Yale Sch. of Management) argue that most businesses and their transactions lie somewhere between the two poles. Their liberating message is that your competitor does not have to fail for you to win. Conversely, you don't have to fail either. Your failure, in fact, can hurt your competitor. It is better, the authors assert, to have both cooperation and competition. Game theory requires drawing a representation of one's customers, suppliers, competitors, and complementers. In this strategy of business as a game, the rules, players, tactics, and scope can be changed to the individual's advantage. The authors present complicated cases to illustrate their points. The writing is usually solid, but the authors went to the well too many times with some of their examples. A little variety in illustrating their ideas would have been welcome. Such minor shortcomings aside, this title is recommended for all academic libraries.?Randy L. Abbott, Univ. of Evansville Libs., Ind.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Management and organizational theorists are continually investigating new models to explain organizational behavior. Traditionally, competition has often been a component of those models, but now researchers are looking at other behaviors and using theories from other fields of study. James Moore recently proclaimed The Death of Competition (1996) and put forth a complex model based on natural ecosystems that emphasizes symbiotic, cooperative relationships. Now Brandenburger and Nalebuff, academics from the Harvard Business School and the Yale School of Management, respectively, also suggest that business strategy in today's global environment must combine competition and cooperation, but they employ mathematical game theory to make their argument. David Rouse --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Currency Doubleday; 1 edition (December 29, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385479506
• ISBN-13: 978-0385479509
• Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 0.8 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #68,929 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #68 in Books > Business & Investing > Management & Leadership > Management Science

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 46 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Creating better strategies using game theory March 11, 2003

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

Just out of college I was very enthusiastic to use game theory to solve business problems. But never found a way to use it. That was forty years ago. This is the first book that transforms a wonderful theory into something you can apply. The three key concepts are the "value net", PARTS and role-playing. The value net is a simple model of the players to consider. Not just your business and your client, but also the competitors, suppliers and complementors (a complimentor adds value to your product like mustard to hot dogs). PARTS are five ways to look at the game. P from players-who are they; may be add new ones, A from Added Value- how much value do you add to the game, if any, R from Rules-can the rules be changed, T from tactics, and S from Scope- making the game bigger. With role-playing I refer to putting yourself in the shoes of all the other players. How do they see the game? The book contains many practical examples. Some of these do not require game theory to think of them but without game theory you would never see all the interesting options. The book also has "spiritual" content. It shows how to find "win-win" theories and avoid price wars that are "lose-lose".Very worthwhile.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A �must-read� for sure May 14, 2004

By Burcu Civelek Yuce

Format:Hardcover

First of all I should state that this book is the kind that will make you ask yourself "Why have I not read it before?"! I strongly recommend it and shortly I will try to explain whom I recommend it and why.

In fact, we are not talking about some recent business book, and therefore the potential reader should not expect to see very recent cases as support to arguments discussed. But still, the issues are very systematically, clearly and simply explained, although the examples that are used to support the arguments are "old".

I met this "potential classic business book" (or maybe already a "classic business book") as I began to be interested in game theory. Therefore I can easily declare that "Co-opetition" is very appropriate for a person who would like to see solid, practical and especially business-oriented application areas of game theory. With this book, a "101 game theorist" can try and improve herself easily. But on the other hand, this doesn't mean that the only target readers of the book are the ones that are interested in game theory. The authors have achieved to develop and illustrate practical recommendations for business world by utilizing game theory concepts. So anyone who is business life will benefit from the concepts for sure.

The language and the methods of explanation are very clear, far from being complicated and straightforward. The authors have supported all the major concepts and conclusions by using real-life examples. This way, the reader has more "reasons" to learn and remember the arguments discussed throughout the book. The logical order and the simple modular approach used to lead the discussions also help the reader understand everything explained easily. Although the book is in fact a "strategy book", the reader does not have to be someone with background information on strategy. But still, if the reader already has some background in strategic analysis, then the book offers a much more beneficial and enjoyable read. On top of everything, the nice but "not-so-difficult-to-handle complexity" of game theory itself is the real pleasure of the book.

I recommend this book to college students who are to enter business life shortly, to people with active roles in strategic decision making processes of their corporations and to people who are interested in game theory but who don't want to cope with the mathematical models of it. Have a nice read...

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Looking at the whole market to maximize your strategy December 2, 1999

By Lisa Spellman

Format:Paperback

Co-Opetition by Adam M. Brandenburger and Barry J. Nalebuff focuses on using competition to create a bigger market for the industry and for the individual company. It is an interesting approach to building win-win growth opportunities. The PARTS concept is an easy to remember idea that has been successful in several sited examples. Co-opetition discusses viable ideas that should be considered, particularly the "Pay me to play" suggestion. If the strategist carefully considers all options in the "big picture", they would undoubtedly use one or several of the ideas presented in this book. This book serves as a reminder manual when developing strategy.