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4.2.5 Case study conclusions
It is obvious from the article above that mutual cooperation of two direct rivals
resulted in improving their market positions - competitiveness. This cooperation not
only contributed to improvement of the positions of the companies Toyota and GM, it
also resulted in many positive effects. We can mention, for example:
• The increase in the employment rate in the region and improvement of
abilities and qualification of the labour force which was reflected in the
improvement of the economic standards of the whole region positively.
• Cooperation with science and research represented here by the University
of Michigan lead, i.e. to the reduction of costs and development of highly
qualified labour force etc.
• These facts form a specific model situation which is usable also in similar or
different situations. Efficient cooperation, based on mutual trust and benefits,
leads to an increase in competitiveness of the entities concerned. The above
example demonstrates that this is possible even between direct competitors.
Companies catch new trends in forming the connections, whether they are joint
venture, clusters or fusions. It provides advantages especially in the area of competitiveness
for the companies connected this way, which gives them the opportunity to get a greater
share on the market and better ability to react on the market demands. Toyota has been
developing this cooperation strategy which can be proved, for example, by common
production and development within CPT-Citroen – Peugeot – Toyota.
4.3 Case studies literature review – main results overview
There exists many scientifically presented case studies concerning cooperation
management. We focused on several of them with these criteria:
• High significance with the topic of cooperation management.
• Decryption of cases where cooperation was crucial for success or competitive
advantage.
• Recent papers in journals within Scopus and/or science direct databases
with respectable relevancy.
Crow-Miller et al.: Facilitating collaborative urban water management
through university-utility cooperation [2]
In the face of intensifying stresses such as climate change, rapid urban population
growth, land use change and public concern with rates and use restrictions, water
management is becoming increasingly complex in the cities of the American West.
One strategy to improve water management practices in this changing social-ecological
context is to develop collaborative relationships that facilitate the engagement of
multiple stakeholders at multiple scales. At the local level, one important but frequently
underdeveloped collaborative link is that between university researchers and water
utilities, who together occupy the interstitial space between science and decision-
making, while at the same time interfacing with water users.