WHAT YOU DON'T SEE CAN HURT YOU: AWARENESS CUES TO PROFILE INDIRECT COMPETITORS

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Downing, Stephen T.; Kang, Jin-Su; Markman, Gideon D.
• 署名单位: National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University; National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University; Colorado State University System; Colorado State University Fort Collins; Ghent University
• 刊物名称: ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT JOURNAL
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0001-4273
• DOI: 10.5465/amj.2018.0048
• 发表日期: 2019
• 页码: 1872-1900
• 关键词: ATTENTION-BASED VIEW; networks; DYNAMICS; diversification; performance; firm; Embeddedness; Rivalry; models; IMPACT

摘要

The awareness-motivation-capability (AMC) framework instructs firms to be aware of rivals, yet it offers limited guidance on how to profile those who are not yet rivals but stand to become so. Because rivals are embedded in dyads, triads, tetrads, etc., amultilevel view can unearth awareness cues that specify a hostility profile and make the awareness construct prescient. Studying thousands of competitive encounters over 10 years, we show that, at the firm and dyad levels, diversification and asymmetric pressure (differential exposure to competitive pressure) are reliable cues predicting competitive encounters. At the network level, convergence drives triadic encounters (competition with a rival's rival), and the degree of separation among indirect competitors defines the outer bounds of the hostility profile. Specifically, direct rivals and second- and third-degree indirect competitors merit awareness-more distal players do not. Together, the awareness cues and hostility profile delineate the conceptual bound within which awareness is prescient and beyond which it is misplaced. Challenging several assumptions, our study shows that an arena view assists in predicting cross-industry competition; applying firm, dyad, and network levels of analysis is advisable to better foresee competition; and indirect competitors are profilable, allowing us to see rivals even before they strike.