Linking Coopetition to Sustainable Delivery in International Engineering Projects: A Dynamic Capability Perspective

Achieving sustainable delivery is a critical goal in international engineering projects, which involve interdependent actors—such as contractors, suppliers, and designers—engaged in simultaneous cooperation and competition. This study investigates how coopetition, conceptualized as intensity and balance, affects sustainable delivery performance through dynamic capabilities. Specifically, we introduce exploitation and exploration as mediating capabilities and examine their effects under coopetition structures (horizontal vs. vertical). We use hierarchical regression analyses, relationship critical tests, and the fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) approach. Using survey data from 172 global projects, the results show that exploitation and exploration partially mediate the relationship between coopetition intensity and sustainable delivery performance, and fully mediate the effect of coopetition balance. The analysis uncovers a structural differentiation in capability efficacy, showing that exploitation yields stronger effects within horizontal structures, whereas exploration exerts greater influence under vertical structures. fsQCA reveals three complex configurational pathways to sustainable delivery performance, demonstrating the compensatory configurational pathways in which structural characteristics can, under certain conditions, substitute for dynamic capabilities. This study extends the application of coopetition and dynamic capability theories to the context of international engineering projects and underscores the crucial role of governance structures in shaping capability development and sustainable delivery outcomes.