What characterizes a co-operative strategy?

A co-operative strategy is characterized by collaborating with competitors for mutual benefits. This approach recognizes that, in certain situations, organizations can achieve better outcomes by working together rather than pursuing purely competitive tactics. Such collaborations can take the form of partnerships, alliances, or joint ventures where companies share resources, knowledge, or technologies to enhance their competitive positioning and create value that may be unattainable independently.

In a co-operative strategy, the idea is that by pooling strengths and addressing common challenges, participating firms can benefit from each other's capabilities while still maintaining their individual identities. This strategy can lead to reduced risks, shared costs, and the ability to enter new markets or develop new products more effectively than one company could achieve alone.

This concept is in contrast with the other options where individual efforts, acquisitions, or policy enforcement do not foster such collaborative relationships. Working alone, buying out competitors, or imposing strict internal policies do not embody the essence of collaboration, which is vital to co-operative strategies.