Building a boundary-spanning service for coopetition

Coopetition is a revolutionary mindset, combining cooperation and competition and allowing companies to work with potential collaborators based on their preferences. It challenges the concept of a supply chain, where companies occupy different positions within a layered structure. Relationships in a supply chain set boundaries for the different collaborators. In contrast, the partners in coopetition can be either collaborators or competitors, and the relationship can evolve over time. To support coopetition, a platform is required for dynamic relationships to develop and for various types of collaboration to occur. This platform enables companies to effectively form networks via a boundary-spanning service, and thus gain competitive advantages. A boundary-spanning service is an intelligent intermediary, providing information, contingencies, and role routines with discretionary powers under constraints. This study demonstrates a process of collaborative purchasing whereby companies negotiate over different offers to increase their utilities using boundaryspanning agents. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.