From Complementary to Competition

UCLA Anderson’s Marvin Lieberman and his colleague Dartmouth’s Ron Adner study how a friendly complementary firm becomes competition.

Termed “disruptive innovation” this is an occurrence that is defined by when partners such as suppliers and distributors become competitors. The authors describe the three mechanisms involved in becoming a disruptor. With examples such as Netflix and Tesla, the article explains how a company playing a complementary role can soon become a competitor.