Cooperation among the competitors in international cargo transportation sector : key factors to success
LTLietuvos ir kitų Centro bei Rytų Europos valstybių įstojimas į Europos Sąjungą smarkiai paveikė tarptautinių krovinių pervežimo vilkikais rinką. Išnykusios pasienio eilės ir atsivėrusios Vakarų Euro-pos rinkos suaktyvino vežėjų konkurenciją, tuo pat metu kylanti savikaina verčia įmones ieškoti naujų konkuravimo būdų. Viena iš strateginių alternatyvų – vežėjų tarpusavio bendradarbiavimas (horizontalūs aljansai). Darbe surinkta, peržiūrėta ir išanalizuota mokslinė literatūra, susijusi su įvairiais bendradarbiavimo aspektais. Ypač daug dėmesio teikiama bendradarbiavimo su konkurentais komponentams, būtiniems siekiant įgyvendinti sėkmingus tarpusavio bendradarbiavimo projektus. Mokslinės literatūros pagrindu sudarytas empirinio tyrimo klausimynas. Tyrinėti buvę transporto įmonių bendri projektai. Tyrimas parodė, kad, siekiant projektų sėkmės, turi būti užtikrintos šios sritys: pasitikėjimas (patikimumas), mechanizmai, garantuojantys, kad įsipareigojimai bus vykdomi, aktyvus dalyvavimas, atsargus bendradarbiavimo narių pasirinkimas, detalus bendradarbiavimo aptarimas prieš pradedant bendradarbiavimą. Tyrimas rodo, kad vežėjai pasiryžę bendradarbiauti tol, kol mato bendradarbiavimo privalumus ir gali įveikti sunkumus, susijusius su bendradarbiavimo iššūkiais. Galutinė darbo išvada – sunkumai, susiję su bendrais projektais, yra įveikiami ir suteikia dalyvaujančioms įmonėms privalumų. Išanalizuotos ir susistemintos ankstesnių projektų pamokos bei jų pagrindu pateikiami patarimai, kaip efektyviau organizuoti kooperatyvinius projektus ateityje.Reikšminiai žodžiai: Horizontalieji aljansai; Bendradarbiavimas; Transportas; Sėkmės faktoriai; Horizontal alliances; Cooperation; Success factors; Transport industry.
ENThe purpose of this paper is to explore how cooperation with competing companies can be achieved success-fully. Although international cargo transport sector is chosen, guidelines should be applicable to other industries as well, because they are based on psychological factors, which are universal. The paper is scientifically novel because it: (1) focuses on horizontal alliances; (2) looks at international transport industry sector; (3) evaluates specifics of developing (Lithuanian) market; (4) looks at multi-company cooperation. The costs and management challenges in building successful cooperative projects are often much higher than anticipated. Research confirms that difficulties in creating successful alliances in part can be attributed to differences between three strategic viewpoints that dominate world of business strategy: (1) Competitive paradigm, whereby companies gain competitive advantages in one of two ways - (a) by achieving advantageous position in an industry; (b) by developing and using core competences to offer better products and services. (2) Cooperative paradigm, whereby companies exist in a network of interdependent relationships fuelled by desire of companies to gain collaborative advantages through strategic collaboration. (3) Syncretic paradigm, whereby competitive and cooperative strategies should be pursued simultaneously to achieve above average performance. Managers subscribing to competitive paradigm, fail to notice benefits provided by cooperative or syncretic paradigms.Such view prevents them from cooperating altogether. Literature lists following key factors that influence the success of collaborations: (1) Membership; (2) Purpose and objectives; (3) Structure; (4) Process; (5) Communications; (6) Resources. First hand research collaborated these findings by indicating that following areas have to be addressed for cooperation to be successful: (a) trustworthiness/dependability; (b) alignment of goals and interests; (c) active participation in the projects; (d) careful selection of members for cooperation; (e) detailed definition of cooperation ahead of time; (f) mechanisms to ensure compliance to previously made commitments. Research showed that most cooperative project in the past experienced following major problems: (a) Failing to follow through with commitments; (b) Inability to find compromises; (c) Lack of initiative; (d) Lack of coordination with alliance members. Suggestions how to overcome the roadblocks and difficulties to cooperate: (a) Selecting members of cooperation; (b) Active leadership of the project;(c) To look at cooperation from a business perspective; (d) A detailed definition of cooperation ahead of time; (e) Ensuring compliance. The paper concludes that difficulties associated with setting up and running cooperative ventures are resolvable and provides specific suggestions that have to be ad-dressed in any cooperative venture for it to be successful. [From the publication]
