Seminar（Dept. of Trade Economics）

Title: Linking AI with Strategy Theory

Speaker: Liang Chen (Singapore Management University)

Time: 10:00-11:30 (Tuesday), May 28th, 2024

Venue: Room 712, Mingde Business Building

Language：English

Abstract：

In this talk, I will briefly present two studies that link AI phenomena to conventional theories and demonstrate ways to make theoretical contributions in an area that appears mainly phenomenon-driven so far. The first study theorizes about AI in platform markets. We analyze a model demonstrating how an entrant with a superior algorithm technology may outcompete an incumbent possessing a user base advantage, a strategy we term as “algorithm envelopment.” Our study extends the recent debate on “data network effects” and shows that teasing apart network effects, data-driven learning, and algorithm technology can yield new insights into platform competition, platforms’ corporate-level strategies, and antitrust policymaking. In the second study, we examine the impact of Artificial Intelligence-Generated Content (AIGC) technologies on knowledge search. Our analysis of data from StackOverflow, a popular platform for crowdsourcing coding knowledge, shows that developers are more likely to obtain potential solutions after the rise of ChatGPT. Yet the likelihood of obtaining satisfactory solutions remains unchanged and instead it takes longer to locate satisfactory solutions. A closer look unveils substantial heterogeneity, possibly associated with varying capabilities of solution evaluation, an understudied factor in the search literature.

Short biography：

Liang Chen is Associate Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at Singapore Management University. His recent research on platform ecosystems and digital strategy appears in Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Management, Journal of International Business Studies, and Harvard Business Review. He also has lasting research interests in multinational firms, emerging markets, global strategy, corporate strategy, and the theory of the firm. Liang won the AOM IM Division Emerging Scholar Award, and was a finalist of the Alan M. Rugman Most Promising Scholar Award. He is Deputy Editor at Management and Organization Review, Senior Editor at International Business Review, Consulting Editor at Journal of International Management, and Guest Editor at Journal of International Business Studies.