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College of Business
AACSB International EQUIS - European Quality Improvement System
Research Seminar
[Brown Bag] Platform Owners’ Entry and Complementors’ Innovation: The Impact of Platform Evolution within and across Technology Generations by Prof. Haiyang LI, Rice University
Abstract: Abstract: The platform literature has shown conflicting findings regarding how a platform owner's entry into its complementors' market affects complementors’ innovation. To reconcile these mixed findings, we present a dynamic perspective on platform evolution within and across technology generations. We argue that in the early stage of a platform's technology generation, the platform owner’s entry provides vicarious learning opportunities for complementors to understand and reduce their technology and demand uncertainties, thus encouraging their innovation. However, in the late stage, the platform owner's entry increases competitive pressure on complementors, thus discouraging their innovation. We further explore how technology gaps between two successive generations and complementors' product portfolios’ attributes moderate these relationships. Our findings, using data from the game console industry (2000–2020), strongly support these arguments.
Date: Oct 30 (Thu), 2025 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Time: 2:30PM - 4:00PM
Venue: LAU-7-207, Level 7, Lau Ming Wai Academic Building (LAU)
Details: Speaker Bio: Dr. Haiyang Li is the H. Joe Nelson III Professor of Strategic Management and Innovation at the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business, Rice University. His research focuses on technology entrepreneurship and innovation, strategic alliances, multinational firms’ innovation in emerging markets, and the development of China’s technology clusters. His work has appeared in leading journals such as the Academy of Management Journal, Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Marketing, Organization Science, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, Journal of International Business Studies, and Research Policy. He is also the co-founding editor of the Quarterly Journal of Management, a premier management journal in Chinese. At Rice University, Professor Li teaches courses in Strategic Management, Strategic Innovation Management, and Digital Transformation across the MBA/EMBA programs.