Seminar (Dept. of General Management)

Title: When suppliers meet complementors: An examination of suppliers’ survival in Apple’s ecosystem

Speaker: Pengxiang Zhang (Guanghua School of Management, Peking University)

Time: 10:00am, Nov 3rd, (Thursday), 2022

Venue: Online Meeting

Language: Chinese/English

ABSTRACT:

Recent research shows growing interest in the translucent hand of managed ecosystems, namely, how an ecosystem leader engages with a multilateral set of external communities. While ecosystem studies mostly focus on complementors, we still know little about how an ecosystem leader manages its relationships with suppliers. To address this issue, we propose that the bilateral relationship between the ecosystem leader and its suppliers cannot be studied in isolation from other relationships in the ecosystem, particularly the relationships between suppliers and complementors. By piecing together data on Apple’s suppliers and complementors, we find that an ecosystem leader is more likely to maintain its relationships with suppliers who have formed alliances with complementors in the same ecosystem compared to other suppliers. However, this effect weakens if the ecosystem leader exhibits a strong dependence on suppliers’ technical knowledge, as it poses a displacement threat to the ecosystem leader. This study contributes to research on ecosystems, buyer-supplier relationships, and alliances.

SHORT BIOGRAPHY:

Pengxiang Zhang is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Organization and Strategy, Guanghua School of Management, Peking University. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina. His research focuses on digital innovation, strategic rhythms, and global strategy. His work has been published in the Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Management, and Journal of Management Studies. He has also received nominations for several awards, including the AIB Alan M. Rugman Young Scholar Award and Best Paper in Emerging Economies Award. Pengxiang serves as an editorial board member for the Journal of Management.