Entrepreneurial Resources, Complementary Assets, and Platform Sustainability

Abstract

This paper applies grounded theory to explore the formation of platform leadership and its reputation through a single case study analysis of a Chinese energy internet platform enterprise CZB (Che Zhu Bang). Initially, CZB was a follower in China’s internet energy market. After clarifying and acquiring the entrepreneurial resources and the complementary assets it needed, CZB quickly established an energy internet platform and its platform leadership in two years. The research shows the mechanism by which the entrepreneurial resources and complementary assets affect the evolution of the platform leadership, the interaction between platform leadership and its reputation, and in the end, how platform reputation influences platform sustainability.