Complementor competitive advantage: A framework for strategic decisions

Platform ecosystems include complementary product markets that are creating unprecedented business oppor-tunities. Competition within complementary product markets is increasingly intense and fast-changing, and this leads to increased complexity in designing strategies to gain competitive advantage. Prior literature has exten-sively analyzed the key drivers of platform adoption by end users. Recent research is highlighting the relevance of complementors as critical ecosystem agents that have some strategic freedom. However, current insights into complementors still provide a limited and fragmented explanation of their competitive advantages. This con-ceptual paper examines current research on platform ecosystems, open innovation and market-based standard-ization, and analyzes complementor strategic decisions aimed at building a competitive advantage. Our framework contributes to the literature by providing a complementor-centered approach and suggesting a set of propositions that may guide future research. Future studies may extend the insights into the competitive and corporate strategies of complementors in platform ecosystems.