Broekhuizen et al. (2013) "New horizons or a strategic marage?

22 important questions on Broekhuizen et al. (2013) "New horizons or a strategic marage?

Where do the authors contribute to?

To the debate between researchers who argue that the emergence of online distribution allows content producers in the creative industries to bypass powerful publishers and distributors and the researchers who argue that this strategy cannot succeed without complementary assets that these intermediaries provide

What is the shift called 'artist-led-distribution'?

Content-producing entrepreneurs can singlehandedly publish their content onto online stores.

What do researchers argue about such artist-led-distribution?

It will revolutionize the creative industries, allowing content-producig entrepreneurs to bypass the traditional reliance on publishers and appropriate the full value of their creativity
  • Higher grades + faster learning
  • Never study anything twice
  • 100% sure, 100% understanding
Discover Study Smart

What do complementary assets include?

  • Tangible resources such as financial capital
  • Intangible resources such as marketing skills, referrals and contracts, and proprietary distribution channels

What is the difference between generic and specialized complementary assets?

By contrast to generic complementary assets that are easily obtainable in the market, and thus have limited strategic importance, specialized complementary assets are strategically important because they are not readily available in the market place.

Specialized complementary assets are usually

Inimitable, scarce, and difficult to reproduce. They are the product of idiosyncratic investments, are usually path dependent, and require significant time to develop.

What does create new strategic options for small resource-strapped firms that face strong incumbents?

Technological advancements such as the advent of online distribution

What is the critical question regarding specialized complementary assets?

Whether the cost savings of vertical strategic bypassing of established publishing actors will make up for the additional rents that can be generated through the use of the publisher's specialized complementary assets

How can strategic alliances be defined?

As close, collaborative relationships between two, or more, firms with the intent of accomplishing mutually compatible goals that would be difficult for each to accomplish alone.

Why does it in several respects turn out to be disadvantageous for the content producers?

  1. Content producers often lack the experience needed to understand the nuance of contracting downstream value chain activities.
  2. Market sales often depend on the owner of specialized complementary assets exerting maximum efforts in promoting and distributing the product.
  3. Even after the alliance has been agreed, relying on large incumbents for critical resources also puts small firms at risk of opportunistic exploitation that is difficult to control using a multi-contingency contract.

What is from the long-term perspective an additional hazard of partnering with a large incumbent?

A small firm can become overly dependent on larger partners that control resources crucial for commercialization

What is important to bear in mind when trying to understand why complementary assts retain their importance even in environments where content producers can directly reach consumers?

That consumers in creative industries often turn to professional reviewers for 'expert' opinion when making their product selection

What role do publishers perform?

The important role of selecting and certifying quality for consumers

Where does the calculation of whether advantages of partnering with owners of complementary assets outweigh the risk depend on?

On how the industry's value chain characteristics provide the basis for creating sustainable competitive advantage.

What are the four prevailing specialized complementary assets which are deployed by incumbent publishers for increasing probability of successful commercialization, and that content producers can access by forming alliances?

  1. A large portfolio of content
  2. Superior marketing skills and assets
  3. Having relationships with gatekeepers
  4. Having a reputation or reputable name

Why a large portfolio of content?

Since the success of individual products is difficult to predict upfront, nor easily explained ex-post, publishers rely far less on internal product evaluation when selecting which products to launch, preferring instead to follow the principle of “let the market decide”.

Why superior marketing skills and assets?

The oversupply of content that is characteristic of creative industries presents publishers with the challenge of attracting public attention. Since consumer awareness of these products hinges almost exclusively on mass-media coverage, successful publishers leverage and cultivate their relationships with the mass media with a view to obtaining favorable reviews in magazines and newspapers.

Why relationships with gatekeepers?

Content becomes successful by virtue of selection by gatekeepers that control access to the market, and by institutional actors that evaluate released content. Strong relationships with access gatekeepers are a necessary but not sufficient condition for ensuring publishers’ strategic success. In the creative industries, product market selection is also strongly influenced by institutional actors such as mass-media critics and award-giving bodies that evaluate and broadcast product quality.

Where is the success of a commercialization strategy a function of?

Of the availability of the specialized complementary assets and the value the content producer is able to appropriate form the product's market performance.

When is value created?

It is often jointly created when one part in the value chain provides specialized complementary assets that allow another part to enhance the value of its basic product.

What did online distribution, which held out the promise of giving all content producers, small and large, a level playing field, actually create?

It actually created information congestion that made it harder for consumers to find and select a game of their choice, and then transact.

When did publishers, which were earlier seemed irrelevant to many in the industry, reestablish their role as selector, evaluator and marketer?

When the transaction cots rose

The question on the page originate from the summary of the following study material:

  • A unique study and practice tool
  • Never study anything twice again
  • Get the grades you hope for
  • 100% sure, 100% understanding
Remember faster, study better. Scientifically proven.
Trustpilot Logo