Strategic Management of Network Resources: A Case Study of an ERP Ecosystem

This paper applies the resource-based view (RBV) theory to a case study aimed at identifying the complementary resources among partners in the ERPCorp ecosystem of development and implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Denmark. The paper analyzes these resources in terms of being valuable, rare, inimitable, immobile, and non-substitutable in the ERP solutions market. The study found four key complementary resources that contribute to competitive advantage, namely: (1) ERP core product; (2) horizontal add-ons; (3) vertical add-ons; and (4) customer specific add-ons. The paper examines the potential impact of an ERP vendor’s business development strategy that includes changing the ERP solution from a horizontal to a vertical focus, and increasing the partner certification requirements to be part of the ecosystem. The evidence suggests that the strategy, if implemented successfully, maintains competitive advantage for the ERPCorp ecosystem through effectively combining resources and leveraging lock-in and network effects.