System Lock-In: Winning through Complementors

Abstract

The System Lock-In position represents the strongest form of bonding and demands that the business addresses the overall architecture of the system. Instead of focusing solely on the product or the customer, we are now concerned with all the important players in the system that contribute to the creation of economic value for a particular customer. Besides the normal industry participants — buyers, suppliers, channels, and potential new entrants — we are especially concerned with nytrturing, attracting, and retaining ‘complementors.’¹ A complementor is not a competitor, or necessarily a supplier; it is a provider of products and services that enhance, directly or indirectly, our own offering. Examples of complementor pairings include computer manufacturers and software producers, high fidelity equipment manufacturers and CD retailers, and video cassette recorders and movie studios.

Keywords

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