The paradox of co‐operation and competition in strategic alliances: towards a multi‐paradigm approach

Co-operation and competition characterise the inter-firm relationships in\ud strategic alliances. This article proposes a paradox approach to studying\ud co-operation and competition. It explains the paradox perspective and provides\ud an analytic framework for the paradox of co-operation and competition.\ud In the light of the paradoxical nature, it advocates a multi-paradigm\ud approach to co-operative and competitive strategies, which combines strategic\ud positioning, the resource-based view and game theory. The article suggests\ud that the multi-paradigms can not only encompass the contradictions of\ud the paradox from the different perspectives, but also emulate the individual\ud ones and provide a holistic picture. The multi-paradigm approach therefore\ud establishes a better methodology basis than fragmented orthodox theories in\ud exploring the contradictory, interactive and dynamic nature