合作或竞争：为什么不呢？

Turbulence, disruption and innovation are all terms we use daily in today’s agribusiness environment, and navigating these times is challenging to say the least. Many feed and grain managers seek answers to questions centered around market volatility, customer and consumer expectations, policy shifts and regulations, technology advancements and more.

While looking at the longer term, you also have to run your business for today — dealing with everything it takes to help your feed and grain business thrive in the here and now.

一种方法是建立联盟，以“联合”并帮助确定和利用长期机会并解决长期威胁，尤其是单独使用风险的机会/威胁。

Of course, strategic alliances — even among competitors — in the feed and grain industries are not new. This form of cooperation, however, may open up even more possibilities in today’s environment and be more relevant as a strategy. As a result, industry managers may be more interested in considering these vehicles for collaboration.

竞争对手之间的战略联盟的想法是在Pelin Bicen，Shelby Hunt和Sreedhar Madhavaram的“商业研究杂志”上发表的最新研究论文中探讨的。本文专门研究竞争对手或“合作联盟”之间的战略联盟或伙伴关系。

This is an idea many of us may be reticent to consider during normal times. But these times are anything but normal and call for us to be bold and original in our thinking.

合作联盟

Perhaps there are opportunities to navigate the changing landscape of food and agriculture by building a coopetitive alliance like those evaluated in this research paper?

The authors found these alliances are quite common in the biotechnology, semiconductor, medical device, hardware, electronics and chemical industries. They argue the high pace of innovation, competition and growth in these industries leads natural to coopetitive alliances.

而且，所有这些特征在当今的粮食和农业行业中听起来都很熟悉。

认为throu最重要的因素是什么gh if considering a coopetitive alliance? The research points out the most critical success factors are centered on clarifying the market orientation of the alliance. The authors provide compelling evidence that competitors can succeed in an alliance if the focus is on creating a new and unique value proposition for customers. The alliance should be oriented toward the market rather than focused on basic research or efficiencies.

This idea counters some conventional wisdom about strategic alliances. Most of us likely jump to operational efficiencies or joint research as the primary driver of an alliance — some kinds of joint purchasing arrangements or university-based research consortia with several competitors providing funding to address challenges common to all come to mind.

The article challenges us to think about how competitors can work together to create new customer value, build trust and commitment in the alliance, yet still compete.

通常，在成功建立新价值主张的成功合作联盟的公司中，这是为了应对竞争威胁，无论是来自该行业的另一个竞争对手还是来自另一个行业的新兴竞争对手。

When the catalyst to have this market orientation is there, it creates a “shared destiny” mentality that reinforces trust and commitment, thereby strengthening the relational contract between the alliance partners and leading to stronger outcomes from the alliance. With values and objectives aligned – from either a shared opportunity or shared threat — the foundation for a successful relationship is in place.

One example of as a coopetitive alliance in the agricultural input supply industry is the formation of CommoditAg. CommoditAg is an alliance of several regional cooperative retail organizations that, at times, compete with each other but, in this case, have chosen to collaborate in response to the growing pressure from e-commerce in the agricultural retail space.

Some may quibble about CommoditAg being a true coopetitive alliance, but it seems it has many of the essential elements.

Research would suggest that CommoditAg is most likely to be successful. As long as it can stay focused on creating a unique value proposition for farmer customers, respond effectively to the changing competitive environment of e-commerce, and effectively coordinate the resources of its parent members to deliver on their unique value proposition.

您会看到有关此想法的许多其他机会和变化。也许某些共同设施的设施可能会为合作联盟提供机会。也许服务共享的安排将使联盟能够为鉴于客户的运营规模桥接多个组织的客户提供服务。

Or, something like a ‘Star Alliance’ operated by airlines that link routes and frequent flyer programs to serve their customers better might be possible.

Coopetitive alliance firms might creatively share technical services — perhaps a jointly hired nutrition specialist to serve a region where neither firm could justify the full investment.

Of course, anti-trust laws must be followed, and any areas that might involve anti-competitive practices would need to be avoided, especially pricing issues.

新的机会

我们大多数日子都试图提供当前的价值主张并击败竞争对手。然而，当今的动荡市场可能会暗示机会与我们以创造性的新方式与我们的竞争进行合作。

当您考虑这种方法来应对一些更大的挑战时，您是否愿意考虑以在市场上创造独特价值的方式合作的机会，或者您更愿意坚持关注运营效率的传统合作？

这是一个精通供稿的问题，谷物经理应该问。■

Authors
Dr. Gray是粮食与农业商业中心执行主任，粮食与农业综合企业的土地O'Lakes主席/普渡大学农业经济学系教授。

Dr. Akridge是普渡大学农业经济学系学术事务和多样性的教务长和执行副总裁。

Dr. John Foltz是俄亥俄州哥伦布市俄亥俄州立大学动物科学系主席，莫斯科莫斯科大学农业与生命科学学院院长和院长院长。

This article is adapted from an earlier version of the same title published in the食品和农业业务中心季刊(June 23, 2021):bit.ly/3l5zuqf