| Title |
Customer complementarity in the digital space: Exploring Amazon's business model diversification |
| ID_Doc |
78111 |
| Authors |
Aversa, P; Haefliger, S; Hueller, F; Reza, DG |
| Title |
Customer complementarity in the digital space: Exploring Amazon's business model diversification |
| Year |
2021 |
| Published |
Long Range Planning, 54, 5 |
| DOI |
10.1016/j.lrp.2020.101985 |
| Abstract |
In spite of the striking evidence that many firms run multiple business models, scholars and practitioners still lack a comprehensive understanding about business model portfolio dynamics, particularly when this happens in the digital space. Prior research on business model diversification tends to focus on supply-side complementarities, such as a firm's synergies among resources and capabilities. Yet, the demand-side with its customer complementarities remains theoretically and empirically underexplored, despite offering interesting opportunities for firms' competitive advantage. By developing a qualitative, longitudinal (1995-2018) analysis of the various business models developed by Amazon.com, we identify and map how customer complementarities-network effects and one-stop shop effects-can support firm growth and competitive advantage, particularly in the digital space. We identify what we term the 'integrative business model,' defined as the business model in a portfolio exhibiting the most (predominantly positive) customer complementarities with other business models. We propose mechanisms for the integrative business model to contribute to sustainable competitive advantage via a causal loop diagram and discuss implications for theory and practice. |
| Author Keywords |
Customer complementarities; Digital; Business model; Demand-side; Diversification; Integrative business model; Amazon |
| Index Keywords |
Index Keywords |
| Document Type |
Other |
| Open Access |
Open Access |
| Source |
Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) |
| EID |
WOS:000706477200008 |
| WoS Category |
Business; Development Studies; Management |
| Research Area |
Business & Economics; Development Studies |
| PDF |
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