Complementarity Management Capability in Emerging Economies’ Ecosystems

ABSTRACT Objective: this study validates complementarity management as an ecosystem-level capability that enables focal firms to orchestrate ecosystems and enhance innovation performance in emerging economies. Theoretical approach: building on innovation ecosystem and capabilities-based literatures, we theorize that firms need specific capabilities to manage non-generic complementarities. Method: we adopt a mixed-method design. In the qualitative phase, a multiple-case study of 10 focal firms was used to explore and specify the construct. In the quantitative phase, we surveyed 275 executives from focal firms to validate a measurement scale. Analyses combined principal component analysis (PCA), partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). Results: we identify four orchestrating activities supporting a unidimensional structure for complementarity management capability. PLS-SEM indicates that this capability is positively associated with focal firms’ innovation performance, while fsQCA reveals multiple high-performance configurations in which strong levels of these activities jointly contribute to superior outcomes. Qualitative evidence further illustrates how this capability helps orchestrators address partner scarcity and mitigate the ‘emerging-economy tax’ in Brazilian ecosystems. Conclusions: we clarify and operationalize complementarity management capability as a distinct ecosystem-level capability, providing a validated unidimensional scale, and showing how orchestrating unique complementarities can improve innovation performance under emerging-economy constraints.