Incumbent's advantage through exploiting complementary assets via interfirm cooperation

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Rothaermel, FT
• 署名单位: Michigan State University; Michigan State University's Broad College of Business
• 刊物名称: STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT JOURNAL
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0143-2095
• DOI: 10.1002/smj.180
• 发表日期: 2001
• 页码: 687-699
• 关键词: strategic alliances; complementary assets; technological discontinuity; Biopharmaceutical Industry

摘要

I examine interfirm cooperation between incumbents and new entrants as a mechanism for incumbents to adapt to radical technological change through exploitation of complementary assets. The research setting is the biopharmaceutical industry, where I analyze 889 strategic alliances between 32 large pharmaceutical firms and providers of the new biotechnology. I find that incumbents that focus their network strategy on exploiting complementary assets outperform incumbents that focus on exploring the new technology. However, there are limits to this strategy due to diminishing marginal returns to alliance intensity. I am also able to show that an incumbent's new product development is positively associated with its performance. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.