In their latest article published in the Journal of Operations Management (ABS 4*, FT50, FNEGE 1), Audrey Rouyre (Assistant Professor at Montpellier Business School), Anne-Sophie Fernandez (Senior Lecturer HDR at the University of Montpellier, Institut Montpellier Management) and Isabel Estrada (Associate Professor, University of Groningen, Netherlands) study the management of coopetition (simultaneous collaborative and competitive relationships) in public-private projects (PP projects) from a governance perspective.
Previous research on the governance of PP projects has shown the importance of governance mechanisms for managing technical or organizational disruptions, but NOT for managing coopetition. Furthermore, work on coopetition has focused mainly on the management of coopetition between industrialists, whereas within PP projects, coopetitive relationships also exist between public-sector players and industrialists.
To better understand how governance mechanisms can help manage coopetition in PP projects, the authors carried out an in-depth study of Galileo, a flagship PP project aimed at developing Europe’s first satellite navigation system.
The results show how the three dimensions of project governance – (1) mechanisms (joint or separate use of contractual and relational mechanisms), (2) form (lead organization or shared governance) and (iii) objectives (promoting cooperation and/or preventing competition) – explain both the emergence and management of cooperative tensions between industrialists, but also between industrialists and public players. In turn, these tensions led to a series of adaptations in project governance. The study therefore provides an insight into the co-evolution of governance and cooperative tensions between industrialists and between industrialists and public players within PP projects.
The authors would like to thank Labex Entreprendre, the University of Montpellier and the Montpellier Management Institute, Montpellier Business School and the European scientific association EURAM for supporting their research.
