The changing nature of strategic collaboration: The emergence of equity participation in the UK media industry

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to highlight the use of equity participation as an emerging strategic collaboration response to the turbulent conditions caused by digital disruption in the UK broadcast media industry.

Design/methodology/approach

The research is based on quantitative content analysis of 169 reported instances of strategic collaboration in the period 2010-2016.

Findings

The findings show that equity participation, as a collaborative strategy in the UK media industry, has emerged to become the predominant form of collaboration, compared to traditional forms of collaboration. The findings show that, for equity participation, a majority of stated motivations of both partners are to gain access to complementary capabilities and to reduce barriers to market entry. For the lead partner, this form of collaboration provides the capabilities to allow the other, often smaller partner, to maintain creative autonomy and agility while gaining access to the resources, content, talent and people expertise that strengthens both partners’ strategic positions.

Originality/value

For strategy managers, the research highlights the benefits of equity participation as a collaborative strategy in terms of dynamic response and risk-sharing, based on an industry experiencing turbulent conditions as a result of digital disruption.

Citation

Goode, G. (2017), "The changing nature of strategic collaboration: The emergence of equity participation in the UK media industry", Strategic Direction, Vol. 33 No. 10, pp. 1-3. https://doi.org/10.1108/SD-06-2017-0089