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Cited by 214Digital Platforms and EconomicsBusiness Strategy and InnovationInnovation and Knowledge Management

Platform governance matters: How platform gatekeeping affects knowledge sharing among complementors

Zhang, Yuchen, Li, Jingjing, Tong, Tony W.·2022·Strategic Management Journal
DOI 10.1002/smj.3191
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Abstract

Research Summary: Orchestrating complementors' value creation activities is critical to platform owners but is challenging. Emerging literature on platform governance suggests that platform access control can shape complementors' contributions to platforms. We extend this literature by using the coopetition framework from strategic management to examine the relationship between platform gatekeeping, a prominent policy for governing platform access, and knowledge sharing among complementors. Exploiting the iOS 7 jailbreak as an exogenous shock to Apple's gatekeeping policy and tracing iOS and Android app developers' knowledge sharing activity on an online forum, we find causal evidence that a lapse in gatekeeping reduces knowledge sharing among iOS app developers. Further, this effect is mitigated among developers with greater knowledge complexity but magnified among those with greater knowledge routineness. Managerial Summary: Platform owners can use governance policies, such as gatekeeping, to control complementors' platform access and shape their value creation activities. This study examines how platform access control affects the interactions among complementors in the form of knowledge sharing. We find that iOS app developers share knowledge less frequently after a lapse in Apple's gatekeeping policy, suggesting that strict platform access control can facilitate complementors' interactions with one another. Further, the decrease in knowledge sharing is more pronounced among app developers with routine knowledge and less so among those with complex knowledge, indicating that complementors' characteristics also matter. This study highlights the value of understanding the impact of the design and deployment of platform governance policies on complementors' interactions and value creation activities more generally.

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  • Focal platform firms can use standardized broadcasting of information via transferable objects such as handbooks, guidelines, or wikis to exchange knowledge with complementors without direct interaction.

    “One possibility is the standardized broadcasting of information via transferable objects, i.e., handbooks or guidelines, or wikis.Complementors can access this knowledge without direct interaction with the focal platform firm.”

    From Digital platform ecosystems in flux: From proprietary digital platforms to wide-spanning ecosystems (2023) · cites this paper as Zhang et al., 2022

  • Focal platform firms can use knowledge bridging, targeting an individual complementor with specific knowledge transfers such as one-to-one assistance and coaching.

    “Third, knowledge bridging targets an individual complementor with specific knowledge transfers, i.e., oneto-one assistance and coaching (Foerderer et al., 2019;Huang et al., 2018;Zhang et al., 2022).”

    From Digital platform ecosystems in flux: From proprietary digital platforms to wide-spanning ecosystems (2023) · cites this paper as Zhang et al., 2022

  • Focal platform firms can use knowledge brokering, providing meta-knowledge via dedicated and semi-formalized interaction such as helpdesks and account managers for a subset of complementors.

    “Second, knowledge brokering provides meta-knowledge and takes place for a subset of complementors via dedicated and semi-formalized interaction, i.e., helpdesks and account managers.”

    From Digital platform ecosystems in flux: From proprietary digital platforms to wide-spanning ecosystems (2023) · cites this paper as Zhang et al., 2022

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Authors
Zhang, Y., Li, J., & Tong, T. W.
Affiliations
  • Tulane University (US)
  • University of Virginia (US)
  • University of Colorado Boulder (US)
Corresponding author
Tong, Tony W.
ORCID
Venue
Strategic Management Journal
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2020-07-17
Volume
43
Issue
3
Pages
599-626
ISSN
  • 0143-2095 (ISSN-L)
  • 1097-0266
DOI
10.1002/smj.3191
OpenAlex
W3033691699
Cited by
214
References
72
Citations by year
2026: 39 · 2025: 44 · 2024: 46 · 2023: 35 · 2022: 30 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 6
FWCI
22.68
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor)
Locations
Strategic Management Journal (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Digital Platforms and Economics
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Business Strategy and Innovation
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Innovation and Knowledge Management
Keywords
platform governance, platform gatekeeping, knowledge sharing, complementors, coopetition, Apple Inc., app developers, knowledge complexity, value creation

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