Bricks without Straw: Overcoming Resource Limitations to Architect Ecosystem Leadership
研究资源匮乏的互补者如何通过激发身份运动、建立需求侧社区并利用需求拉动整合供给侧资源，最终成为生态系统领导者，以小米在安卓生态中的崛起为例。
While scholars have explored how focal firms harness demand-side value through ecosystem development, less emphasis has been placed on understanding how peripheral complementors become competitive. Unlike focal firms, complementors can seldom set value extraction rules. How can complementors lacking critical supply-side resources establish themselves as ecosystem leaders? We conducted a longitudinal analysis of Xiaomi, which began life as a smartphone software complementor within the Android ecosystem but ultimately gained architectural control by orchestrating the creation of a derivative ecosystem. We elucidate how these resource-disadvantaged firms may begin with fueling an “identity movement” among underserved users centered around a pivotal “foothold resource.” This movement serves as their entry point into an ecosystem and enables them to build a demand-side community. They then employ “demand pull” as concrete evidence to substantiate their vision, coalesce supply-side resources, and ultimately become an orchestrator. While conventional strategy research emphasizes supply-side resources as drivers of value creation, we explore the synergy between demand-side mobilization and supply-side orchestration. Finally, we illustrate how firms lacking resources craft compelling visions in conjunction with substantive actions to engage evolving target audiences. This approach allows them to secure more advantageous positions within the ecosystem, thereby transforming its structure over time.