Making platform firms’ competitive advantage sustainable: The roles of network orchestration capabilities and collaborative innovation

Tao Wang, Xiying Zhao and Xin Wang

Journal of Business Research, 2024, vol. 183, issue C

Abstract: Currently, platform firms lack a sustainable competitive advantage (SCA). Most studies on platform firms’ SCA have adopted a market, rather than a resource, perspective. However, compared with traditional firms, platform firms are highly dependent on external resources, establish close ties with network members. Thus, this research introduces Network Orchestration Theory, defines platform firms as sponsor–orchestrators, rather than player–orchestrators as in existing studies, and develops a theoretical model in which network orchestration capabilities enhance SCA via collaborative innovation, and environmental complexity moderates the main effect. The regression results from Chinese platform firms show that network orchestration capabilities (knowledge mobility, innovation appropriability and network stability) enhanced platform firms’ SCA, collaborative innovation mediated, and environmental complexity weakened the positive effect of innovation appropriability on SCA. This research provides suggestions for platform firms’ SCA, supports research on the classification of network orchestrators, and advances platform research and Network Orchestration Theory.

Keywords: Platform firms; Network orchestration; Collaborative innovation; Sustainable competitive advantage; Environmental complexity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:183:y:2024:i:c:s0148296324003588

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2024.114854

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