The Magnificent Five of the Catalan Far West

Abstract

During the past twenty-five years, the Priorat region in northern Spain has developed its capabilities and reputation as a wine-producing region. A group of winery owners in the region played a crucial role in transforming the Priorat region which has earned them the nickname of the ‘Magnificent Five.’ Although the ‘Magnificent Five’ have traditionally been competitors, a new product development project between the ‘Magnificent Five’ has been proposed. The case focuses on the process through which competing winery owners try to come together to make decisions about the collaboration project to develop the new product. Decisions to be made include the headquarters of the project, the marketing approach and expenditures, the type and quality of the oak barrels to be used, and whether newcomers should be allowed to join the ‘Magnificent Five’. All partners of the coopetitive new venture started their first meeting with great enthusiasm, but as the meeting progressed it became clearer that reaching consensus on seemingly trivial issues would be more difficult than initially expected. Thirty minutes into the meeting, the partners begun to question whether developing this new product was a good idea.