Characterizing How Peer‐to‐Peer Learning Navigates Coopetitive Tensions Within Online Community‐Based Innovation Contest Networks

ABSTRACT Online Community‐based Innovation Contests (OCICs) are an important form of network‐based innovation. Creativity derives from the interactions between diverse community peers, positioned across the network, who learn from each other. However, learning takes place against the backdrop of simultaneity of cooperation and competition, leading to coopetitive tensions. This research seeks to unravel how peer‐to‐peer learning occurs within this coopetitive environment. It aims to unpack coopetitive tensions and show how they are navigated by peer‐to‐peer learning mechanisms. To achieve this, an in‐depth case study of a global filmmaking OCIC is conducted, comprising three phases; informal interviews and observation; Social Network Analysis (SNA); and a structured interview program. The results identify diversity and opacity tensions derived from the opposing forces of cooperativeness and competitiveness. These tensions are navigated through two overarching learning mechanisms of assessment and concretizing. The study details several learning strategies connected to the mechanisms. A nuanced analysis shows how they are enacted at core and periphery positions, and through various modes of interaction.