Coopetition strategies of international joint ventures for high-speed railway projects

The mode of international joint ventures (IJVs) has been widely used in international high-speed railway (HSR) projects. This study aims to investigate coopetition strategies of IJVs for HSR projects. The grounded theory was performed to identify 16 coopetition strategies, which were further divided into four categories, namely relationship strategy, regulatory strategy, and exchange strategy, and control strategy. In addition, a questionnaire survey was undertaken with 113 professionals who had experienced more than one HSR project in the overseas market and the confirmatory factor analysis was performed to verify the coopetition strategy framework. The analysis results confirmed the framework and indicated that regulatory and control strategies can enhance the coopetition capability while relationship and exchange strategies can improve the coopetition relationship. As few studies have been focused on the coopetition of IJVs for HSR projects, this study contributes to the body of knowledge relating to IJVs and HSR projects through providing an understanding of coopetition strategies for IJVs in HSR projects.