Complementors' category spanning and external knowledge search within and outside platform ecosystems: Toward the realization of ecosystem-level ambidexterity

The purpose of this study is to clarify how complementors' category spanning orientation in platform ecosystems relates to their degree of external knowledge search. The analysis examined the relationship between complementors' generalist nature (i.e., category spanning orientation) and their external knowledge search both within and outside the ecosystem. Using survey data comprising 1078 observation samples from 98 firms in the Japanese game market, multilevel ordered logistic models with firm-level random effects were applied. Results indicate that a higher category spanning orientation is positively associated with increased external knowledge search within the ecosystem but negatively associated with search outside the ecosystem. However, this negative association disappears and becomes positive when complementors exhibit a strong exploration orientation. These findings suggest that generalist complementors with a strong exploration orientation can facilitate both internal knowledge circulation and external knowledge inflow for the ecosystem, thereby contributing to the realization of ecosystem-level ambidexterity.