PLATFORM LEADERSHIP IN BUSINESS ECOSYSTEM AND RESOURCE DEPENDENCE THEORY

초록

In a business ecosystem, the platform leader takes on a role of overcoming main technological challenges and creating an innovative business model for the members of the ecosystem. Although the role of the platform leader and concepts of the ecosystem have been developed by a number of authors, it still lacks a precise theoretical support to understand what enables the platform leader to obtain and maintain (formal or informal) hegemony in the ecosystem.　In this study, we develop a theoretical framework to understand the fundamental strategic intentions of the platform leader and suggest that resource dependence theory (RDT) provides more precise understanding of the leader and the other agents of the ecosystem. We also propose that the power of the platform leader is related to the degree of dependence on the other agents of the ecosystem. We provide support for our proposition with examples observed in the U.S. IT industry where multiple platform leaders exist and manage different types of platform leadership.

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