【学术讲座】Ally or Fade Away: Supplier-Complementor Alliances and Membership Duration in Apple's Global Ecosystem

Ally or Fade Away: Supplier-Complementor Alliances and Membership Duration in Apple's Global Ecosystem

Guest Speaker: Prof. Sali LI (李卅立) University of South Carolina

Time/Date:   10 am, October 23, 2023

Classroom:    Room 402, Tongji Building A

ABSTRACT | 讲座摘要

Ecosystem governance has gained significant traction in strategy research. Contrary to the prevailing focus on complementors, we examine why the ecosystem leader continues or terminates suppliers’ ecosystem membership. Departing from the view of buyer-supplier relationships, we address the multilateral interdependence inherent in an ecosystem, unveiling the overlooked production complementarities between upstream and downstream actors. Based on a sample of 320 Apple’s suppliers between 2012 and 2020, we find that the ecosystem leader is less likely to terminate its relationship with suppliers who have formed alliances with complementors. This effect diminishes as the ecosystem leader faces role-based and activity-based alignment challenges, arising from its technological dependence on suppliers and suppliers’ environmental uncertainty, respectively. The study contributes to research on multilateral interdependence, ecosystem governance, and alignment challenges.

GUEST BIO | 讲者介绍

Sali Li is a professor in the Sonoco International Business Department at the Darla Moore School of Business. Prior to joining the Moore School, he was an assistant professor at the Lubar School of Business at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. He is a member of the Academy of International Business, Academy of Management and Strategic Management Society. Additionally, he has served on the editorial boards of Journal of International Management and Journal of Management.

Professor Li’s primary research interests cover multinational strategy, revisiting the resource-based view and international entrepreneurship with particular focus on emerging economies. His work has been published or is forthcoming in Academy of Management Review, Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Decision Sciences, Journal of International Management, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Management and Strategic Management Journal.