Looking different vs thinking differently: Impact of TMT diversity on coopetition capability. Issue 1 (February 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bengtsson, Maria; Raza-Ullah, Tatbeeq; Srivastava, Manish K.
• Is Part Of: Long range planning. Volume 53:Issue 1(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-02
• Subjects: Coopetition capability -- TMT diversity -- Surface-level diversity -- Deep-level diversity -- Paradox; Management -- Periodicals; Business planning -- Periodicals; Gestion -- Périodiques; Management; Periodicals; 658.4012
• DOI: 10.1016/j.lrp.2018.11.001
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0024-6301

Abstract

Abstract: In this study, we focus on the micro-foundations of coopetition capability and ask: "where does coopetition capability come from?" Drawing upon social psychology and cognitive theories, we seek to offer insights into the micro-foundations of coopetition capability by focusing on the role of top management team (TMT) diversity. We suggest that TMT diversity emerges from two distinct attributes of the team members: surface-level (e.g., age, gender, nationality) and deep-level (e.g., knowledge and experience). We argue that TMT diversity based on surface-level attributes contributes negatively while TMT diversity based on deep-level attributes contributes positively to coopetition capability. We test our hypotheses using a novel dataset that combines primary data and employee level secondary data of a sample of 315 Swedish firms. Results provide broad support for our hypotheses. We discuss the implications of our findings and key limitations of our study.