Call for Papers

Call for short papers (pdf)

The contemporary organizational environment is undergoing rapid transformations, driven by technological advancements, increasing interdependencies, and the urgency to address societal challenges. In this evolving context, organizations increasingly operate in interdependent ecosystems that demand new approaches to collaboration and competition. Simultaneously, the rising prominence of non-human agents – such as artificial intelligence, robotics, and ecological systems – is reshaping how organizations strategize, interact, and create value. This “more-than-human” society challenges conventional frameworks of strategy and interorganizational relationships, expanding their scope to include non-human actors as integral stakeholders.
 
Collective strategy refers to the joint formulation and implementation of goals and policies by interorganizational collectives (Astley, 1984). It plays a significantly critical role in the rapidly transforming organizational environment through open and collaborative innovation (Appleyard & Chesbrough, 2017; Deken et al., 2018), ecosystems and digital platforms (Garud et al., 2022), industry-wide standard-settings (Cloutier & Couture, 2024; Leiponen, 2008), and collective movements to address grand societal challenges (Kouamé et al., 2022; Stadtler & Van Wassenhove, 2016), among others. Alongside this, coopetition (Bengtsson & Kock, 2000; Dowling et al., 1996), which captures the paradoxical interplay of cooperation and competition (Raza-Ullah et al., 2014), highlights the tensions organizations face in these contexts as they seek to balance value creation with value appropriation (Ritala & Hurmelinna-Laukkanen, 2009), knowledge sharing with protection (Rouyre & Fernandez, 2019), and individual gains with collective benefits (Khanna et al., 1998). Together, these concepts provide a powerful framework for understanding organizational dynamics in the evolving socio-technological landscape.
 
The emergence of a more-than-human society introduces both opportunities and challenges for collective strategy and coopetition. In workplaces and broader ecosystems, human and non-human agents increasingly interact, requiring new ways of structuring relationships and achieving goals. For instance, human-machine collaborations, enabled by AI and robotics, are redefining operational processes and strategic decision-making. Similarly, blockchain technologies are fostering decentralized governance structures that facilitate trust and transparency in multi-stakeholder collaborations (Lumineau et al., 2021). These developments expand the boundaries of collective strategizing and raise critical questions about how organizations navigate the interplay between cooperation and competition.
 
In this context, the psychological and behavioural dimensions of strategizing take on added complexity (Czakon et al., 2020). Decision-making processes must account for emotional, cognitive, and identity-based factors that arise in interactions with non-human agents. Moreover, governance structures must adapt to address power asymmetries and reconcile competing stakeholder interests in ecosystems that increasingly incorporate digital technologies and ecological considerations. These dynamics underscore the importance of developing new capabilities to manage the tensions and paradoxes inherent in collective strategy and coopetition.
 
This subtheme invites submissions that advance inter-organizational research on coopetition, collective strategizing, and/or an intersection of both, in a more-than-human society by focusing on (but by no means limited to) the following illustrative questions:

• How are collective strategies formulated and implemented in contexts involving human and non-human agents? What processes and practices define collective strategizing in a more-than-human society?

• How does coopetition unfold in interactions between human and non-human agents (e.g., AI, robots) in workplace and inter-organizational contexts, and what are the implications for value creation?

• How does coopetition manifest in collective strategizing? How does it vary across contexts and levels of collective strategy? How do new forms of collective strategy such as ecosystem strategy and interorganizational collaboration for collective impact, inform about the manifestation and impact of coopetition?

• What drives organizations to embrace coopetition in their collective strategizing efforts, and how they can measure success within the broader framework of collective strategy?

• How do psychological and behavioural dynamics – such as emotional responses, cognitive processes, and identity negotiation – affect collective strategizing and/or coopetition in these contexts?

• What capabilities and leadership approaches are necessary for successful collective strategizing and balancing cooperation and competition in the more-than-human society?

• How do emerging technologies like AI and blockchain reshape governance structures, stakeholder interactions, and value creation dynamics?

• How do organizations leverage collective strategies to address grand societal challenges, such as climate change, sustainability, and social innovation?

References

• Appleyard, M.M., & Chesbrough, H.W. (2017): “The Dynamics of Open Strategy: From Adoption to Reversion.” Long Range Planning, 50 (3), 310–321.

• Astley, W.G. (1984): “Toward an Appreciation of Collective Strategy.” Academy of Management Review, 9 (3), 526–535.

• Bengtsson, M., & Kock, S. (2000): “Coopetition in Business Networks – To Cooperate and Compete Simultaneously.” Industrial Marketing Management, 29 (5), 411–426.

• Cloutier, C., & Couture, F. (2024): “Comfortably Uncomfortable: Unpacking the Microdynamics of Field Stability and Change.” Academy of Management Journal, 67 (3), 862–892.

• Czakon, W., Srivastava, M.K., Le Roy, F., & Gnyawali, D. (2020): “Coopetition Strategies: Critical Issues and Research Directions.” Long Range Planning, 53 (1), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2019.101948.

• Deken, F., Berends, H., Gemser, G., & Lauche, K. (2018): “Strategizing and the Initiation of Interorganizational Collaboration through Prospective Resourcing.” Long Range Planning, 61 (5), 1920–1950.

• Dowling, M.J., Roering, W.D., Carlin, B.A., & Wisnieski, J. (1996): “Multifaceted Relationships Under Coopetition.” Journal of Management Inquiry, 5 (2), 155–167.

• Garud, R., Kumaraswamy, A., Roberts, A., & Xu, L. (2022): “Liminal Movement by Digital Platform-Based Sharing Economy Ventures: The Case of Uber Technologies.” Strategic Management Journal, 43 (3), 447–475.

• Khanna, T., Gulati, R., & Nohria, N. (1998): “The Dynamics of Learning Alliances: Competition, Cooperation, and Relative Scope.” Strategic Management Journal, 19 (3), 193–210.

• Kouamé, S., Hafsi, T., Oliver, D., & Langley, A. (2022): “Creating and Sustaining Stakeholder Emotional Resonance with Organizational Identity in Social Mission-Driven Organizations.” Academy of Management Journal, 65 (6), 1864–1893.

• Leiponen, A.E. (2008): “Competing Through Cooperation: The Organization of Standard Setting in Wireless Telecommunications.” Management Science, 54 (11), 1904–1919.

• Lumineau, F., Wang, W., & Schilke, O. (2021): “Blockchain Governance – A New Way of Organizing Collaborations?” Organization Science, 32 (2), 500–521.

• Raza-Ullah, T., Bengtsson, M., & Kock, S. (2014): “The Coopetition Paradox and Tension in Coopetition at Multiple Levels.” Industrial Marketing Management, 43 (2), 189–198.

• Ritala, P., & Hurmelinna-Laukkanen, P. (2009): “What's in It for Me? Creating and Appropriating Value in Innovation-Related Coopetition.” Technovation, 29 (12), 819–828.

• Rouyre, A., & Fernandez, A.-S. (2019): “Managing Knowledge Sharing-Protecting Tensions in Coupled Innovation Projects among Several Competitors.” California Management Review, 62 (1), 95–120.

• Stadtler, L., & Van Wassenhove, L.N. (2016): “Coopetition as a Paradox: Integrative Approaches in a Multi-Company, Cross-Sector Partnership.” Organization Studies, 37 (5), 655–685.