City Research Online

Abstract

The world’s most valuable public companies today are built on digital platforms. While American digital platforms (ADPs) have successfully dominated many international markets, some Chinese digital platforms (CDPs) have managed to survive and thrive in China, with European digital platforms largely absent both at home and abroad. Using comprehensive longitudinal data over six years, this study examines the platform competition between ADPs and CDPs in China, and explores how digital platforms challenge traditional ways of thinking about strategy and international competition. Some ADPs initially dominated the Chinese market, but some CDPs used their institutional advantages in China to offset the competitive advantages of ADPs based on superior resources and capabilities and strong market positions. Their competition evolved over three distinctive episodes so far, and CDPs used successive temporary advantages to achieve sustainable competitive advantages dynamically and accomplished radical changes cumulatively through incremental changes. A new dynamic equilibrium model (DEM) of platform competition – “the spiral model” - between global and native digital platforms is developed, which highlights a trajectory that is different from the dominant models of change in the literature. Limitations of the study and new areas for future research are highlighted.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Li, F. (2021). Sustainable Competitive Advantages via Temporary Advantages: Insights from the Competition between American and Chinese Digital Platforms in China. British Journal of Management, which is published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.12558. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited.
Publisher Keywords:	digital platform, platform competition, platform ecosystem, sustainable competitive advantage (SCA), temporary advantage (TA), dynamic equilibrium model (DEM)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory
Departments:	Bayes Business School > Management
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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