Competition vs. Cooperation: Analyzing Strategy Dilemma in Business Growth under Changing Social Paradigms

There are many factors that determine the structure of competition in the environment of growing globalization. Of these, the factors which predominates the nature of competition include not only rivals, but also the economics of particular industries, new entrants, the bargaining power of customers and suppliers, and the threat of substitute services or products. Hence, competition seems to be inevitable. However, collaboration in the business strategy may be considered analogous with the cooperation in the reference to prevailing concerns of the globalization. This paper delineates the driving factors after the ideologies of the strategy formulation through competition and cooperation. The arguments in the paper are woven around sociological, economical and human behavioral paradigms and analytically discuss the strategic fit of competition and cooperation maxims intended towards the growth of business in a firm. The motivation on these juxtaposed issues of competition and cooperation has been derived by reviewing the ideologies debated over the recent past.