The impact of incumbents' operational and governance responses on the sharing economy: An asset orchestration perspective

Abstract

Leveraging an asset-sharing operating model, sharing economy platforms have disrupted incumbent firms in many industries. This research draws on the asset orchestration perspective to examine incumbents' asset orchestration (i.e., operational and governance actions) as they respond to threats from the sharing economy and the effectiveness of these actions in curbing a sharing economy firm's performance. We also analyze how the sharing economy firm's competitive moves counteract incumbents' asset orchestration responses. Our longitudinal empirical analysis in the accommodation industry demonstrates that the growth of sharing economy increases incumbent hotels' asset-based operational actions, which reduce the sharing economy's performance. Although incumbents' asset governance actions increase as the local sharing economy grows, they do not seem to hinder sharing economy's performance. This research highlights the role of asset orchestration in the competition between incumbents and the sharing economy and contributes to the operations and sharing economy literature.