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  • Publication
    Managing Multi-Tiered Innovation Ecosystems: How Lead Firms Govern Their Relationships With Multiple Heterogeneous Complementors
    (Universität St. Gallen, 2021-09-20)
    How do lead firms in innovation ecosystems govern their relationships with multiple heterogeneous complementors? While extant ecosystem literature has acknowledged that formal and informal governance mechanisms and the organizational form shape ecosystem governance, a nuanced perspective on how lead firms tailor their governance to manage the multiplicity of partners in innovation ecosystems does not yet exist. Developing a better understanding of inter-firm coordination and governance in ecosystems, however, seems more relevant than ever, as an increasing number of firms across industries work with more ecosystem- or platform-based models in which the firms develop value propositions through collaboration of multiple heterogenous and independent partners. This dissertation investigates lead firms' governance in innovation ecosystems to fill this gap in the literature by taking a inductive, multiple-case study approach. I provide empirical evidence illustrating that lead firms in these ecosystems, including heterogenous complementors, form distinctly governed tiers of complementors. More specifically, my findings show that lead firms' decisions about the mix of formal and informal governance mechanisms and the choice of organizational form are determined by the domains of uncertainty underlying the ecosystem blueprint and complementors' role of either exploring or reinforcing elements of this blueprint. Additionally, I find that lead firms from the same industry use different ecosystem strategies. Lead firms' strategies are either focused on developing a generative ecosystem around the established business or on building an integrative ecosystem focused on a specific customer-journey. I find that the chosen ecosystem strategy has important consequences for the uncertainty lead firms face, and for the suitability of governance decisions. I discuss the implications of my findings for ecosystem research and management practice, especially with regard to ecosystem governance and ecosystem strategies.