Complementor
From the perspective of a Reference Entity is a complementor ( English Complementors ), a company that for their own product or to its own service offering complementary products or services. From the customer's point of view, this means that he rates the product of company A higher if he also owns the product of company B. Companies A and B are then complementors. A typical example of complementors are sausage makers and mustard makers, because most people prefer a sausage with mustard rather than without it. Likewise, for most consumers, mustard with sausages is worth more than mustard pure.
Business relationships with general partners
The business relationships with general partners of a company differ significantly from the business relationships with suppliers or customers. The business of a company and the business of a general partner are highly dependent on one another due to the utility of the general partners. In the case of Wintel complementarity (see below), Microsoft is z. B. highly dependent on Intel's investments in complementary research and development (and vice versa) (see Yoffie 2007). As a result, Microsoft continuously develops new generations of Windows and application software (e.g. Office package) in order to optimally utilize the higher processor performance of the latest Intel chip generation. Intel's market success is comparatively more dependent on the introduction of a complementary operating system, as this is the only way to fully utilize the performance of the latest chip generation. Microsoft can generate its sales without a new generation of chips. This business dependency is illustrated with the following quote:
"Intel and Microsoft neither buy from nor sell to each other directly, but they are undeniably in business together."
The quote also shows the difference to supplier relationships in particular: as a rule, there are no transactions between complementors between the complementors. This peculiarity must be observed in particular when managing business relationships, which is the subject of complementor relationship management .
Example for complementors
Intel and Microsoft are probably among the best-known complementors in the world. A customer who owns a computer with an Intel chip has a clear added value when he purchases an operating system and other software . In return, Microsoft software is significantly upgraded if the customer is also in possession of the corresponding hardware in order to use the software optimally.
literature
- Nalebuff, Barry J./Brandenburger, Adam M. (1996), Coopetition - competing cooperatively, Frankfurt am Main and New York 1996
- Reiss / Zieger (2006), Navigation Aid for Allfinanzstrategien, in: Die Bank, no year, 2006, 3, 56–59
- Reiss / Zieger (2006), Strategic partner search for financial service networks with the Extended Value Net, in: Journal for the entire credit system, 59, 2006, 2, pp. 72–80
- Yoffie, David B./Kwak, Mary (2006), With friends like these, in: Harvard Business Review, 48, September 2006, 9, pp. 88-98
- Yoffie, D. and Casadesus-Masanell, R. (2007), Wintel: Cooperation and Conflict, in: Management Science, 53, 2007, 4, pp. 584-598
Individual evidence
- ↑ With Friends Like These: The Art of Managing Complementors. (English) , accessed on August 29, 2014