FBA SEMINAR SERIES

Resource Sharing Beyond Firm Boundaries: An Examination of Mobile Operators’ Decisions to Host Virtual Networks

Prof. Siddharth NATARAJAN, Assistant Professor, Nanyang Technological University

Date:         15 March 2023 (Wednesday)
Time:        10:00am – 11:00am
Venue:      Online via Zoom
Host:        Prof. Tianyou HU, Assistant Professor of Management
Zoom Link:  https://umac.zoom.us/j/96997398883

Abstract

This paper studies inducements for a firm to share a resource from its existing business with outsiders. Drawing on ideas about resource-based growth, we theorize that a firm’s scale in a business influences its decision to share resources from that business. We predict that higher scale in a business will increase a firm’s likelihood of sharing resources from that business with outsiders, and that scale has stronger effects on resource sharing when a firm’s scope of business is higher and when it faces an exogenous increase in competitive difficulty in the business. We test our arguments by examining the decision of mobile network operators (MNOs) to share their networks with mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), using a global sample of 448 mobile operators in 85 countries in a twenty-one year period from 2000–2020. Overall, the study extends theory about the origins of resource sharing beyond firm boundaries and has important implications for diversification in vertical markets.

Speaker

Prof. Siddharth Natarajan is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Strategy, International Business, and Entrepreneurship at Nanyang Business School (NBS), Nanyang Technological University. In his research, Siddharth examines the dynamics of business expansion, particularly in global and digital contexts. His research has been published in outlets like Strategic Management Journal, Organization Science, and Journal of International Business Studies. His current work focuses on the use of resources in growth strategy. Prior to joining NBS, Siddharth was employed as an Assistant Professor at CUHK Business School at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Siddharth holds a Ph.D. in Strategy and Policy from the National University of Singapore, where he was awarded the President’s Graduate Fellowship and the Wang Gungwu Medal & Prize for the Best Doctoral Dissertation in Social Science. Before joining academia, he held managerial positions in the areas of product management and strategy with multinational firms in Asia.

All are welcome!