Co-opetition : A Revolution Mindset That Combines Competition And Cooperation : The Game Theory Strategy Thats Changing The Game Of Business

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Again, I don't just do book reviews of new books. I do reviews of new books, and older books that I think are significant. One strategic management book that has helped me is Co-opetition. Co-opetition is the use of both co-operation and competition in an effort to better your business. Similar to Michael Porter's Five Forces framework, Co-opetition aims to describe a business or industry as part of a broader system, and design business strategy through competition and alliances with other economic actors that affect your business. That broader system is called the "value net," and is composed of the firm in question, their customers, suppliers, competitors, and complementors. Complementor was a term they created to describe those parties who produce products or services that help make your customers more likely to buy from you. As the book describes it, think of hot dogs and mustard. When I was a bond manager, I intuitively understood co-opetition. Most managers/traders played the game very sharply, and argued for every basis point. I realized that I had to be careful, and show that I was no pushover, but I found a variety of co-operative strategies that got my brokers working for me, not against me. 1) Helping them out when they were short a bond. I did not sell my bonds to them cheaply, but I did not gouge their eyes out (a technical bond market term) either. They were grateful to me, and Wall Street does have its own brand of loyalty. It protects friends. 2) I let brokers know what I was up to in general, while reserving discretion. I was more open than other managers, realizing that it would be hard to imitate what I was doing, and no one broker had the full picture. I let brokers truly know what my motives were for selling a bond, whether it was relative value, or needing to raise cash. 3) My brokers knew that my word was my bond. I did not break trades. When I utter