| dc.description.abstract | This study mainly discusses how small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) use their internal resources and core competitiveness and combine the application of competitive strategies to seek the most favorable business strategy as well as future development opportunities in the highly competitive metal manufacturing industry. Based on the ＂coopetition strategies＂ proposed by Brandenburger & Nalebuff (1996), this study chooses Company R as the research object to explore the company’s motivation on coopetition in the face of the existing competition in the metal processing industry. This paper makes an in-depth discussion on the coopetition strategies adopted to understand the problems encountered in the process of coopetition and the corresponding solutions.
Qualitative research approaches are employed in this study. The data sources include: secondary data analysis and interviewing. Company R was founded in 2002. Due to its slow growth in the past decade, it began to seek opportunities to cooperate with SME peers and started formal cooperation with Company S in 2014. After Company R cooperated with Company S, its turnover grew rapidly. The cooperation not only made Company R more advanced in manufacturing, but also greatly improved its R & D and innovation capabilities. Such partnership seems to be a win-win situation, but it also implies crises for Company R.
In summary, after Company R cooperates with Company S, Company R′s turnover has increased, and its manufacturing capacity, customization and management capabilities have all been improved; on the other hand, Company S does not need to worry about management costs and product quality, thus achieving the goal of win-win. However, the possible risks to the coopetition model for Company R include: (1) The biggest concern is integrity; (2) The adjustment of Company S′s management team may pose a threat; (3) Company S may poach the core management personnel of Company R; and (4) Overly concentrated customers is a big risk. Company R′s coping strategies include: (1) Improving company’s competitiveness; (2) Actively promoting employees to become shareholders to avoid brain drain; (3) Actively recruiting marketing talents and setting up an international marketing team; and (4) Diversifying market risks. The conclusions of this study are summarized as follows: (1) A high degree of trust between both parties is the key to success; (2) Centering around meeting customer needs and providing one-stop services; and (3) Complementary cooperation is the best model at the stage when enterprises need rapid expansion. | en_US |