TY - JOUR
T1 - The Evolution of Competitive Advantage in Platform-Dominated Markets: Understanding Strategic Positioning in Digitally Networked Economies
AU - Mohammed Al-Farsi
AU - Salim Al-Harthy
AU - Nasser Al-Rawahi
JF - Journal of Digital Business and Management Studies
JO - J. Digit. Bus. Manag. Stud.
Y1 - 2025
VL - 5
IS - 1
SP - 48
N2 - In digitally networked economies, competitive advantage has shifted from firm-level resources to ecosystem-level orchestration, where platform leaders and complementors navigate interdependent value creation and capture. This theory-development article synthesizes recent advances in platform research to propose an evolutionary framework that explains how competitive advantage emerges, sustains, and erodes across three stages: firm-centric, platform-centric, and ecosystem-centric competition. Drawing on network effects, multi-sided market dynamics, and governance mechanisms, the framework highlights strategic positioning within platform hierarchies as the central driver of sustained advantage. Five core propositions articulate causal relationships between network intensity, complementor dependence, data-driven feedback loops, and value-capture asymmetry. The analysis reveals that platform leaders maintain dominance not through ownership of scarce resources but through selective promotion of complements, ecosystem governance, and orchestration of indirect network effects. Complementors, in turn, secure advantage by exploiting platform openness while mitigating lock-in risks. By integrating insights from peer-reviewed studies, this article advances a novel theory of ecosystem-driven competitive advantage that accounts for the dynamic interplay of technological affordances, strategic interdependence, and regulatory pressures. The resulting framework offers actionable guidance for platform leaders and complementors seeking to reposition within rapidly evolving digital markets.
UR - https://imbaspub.com/l024325069
ER -