臺大管理論叢 NTU Management Review VOL.29 NO.1

87 NTU Management Review Vol. 29 No. 1 Apr. 2019 We call this a soft-power approach for resolving inter-organizational tension (Nye Jr, 2004). It is very different from the traditional concept of power play with upstream or downstream partners. For example, Porter’s famous five-force model (Porter, 1980) suggests that firms try every measure to enhance its bargaining power over partners along vertical chains in order to enhance profitability. In our case, AV-firm chose to redefine its brand business scope to reduce inter-organizational competitive tension so that the dual BM could be sustained. It is very similar to the concept proposed in foreign policy studies that it is better to use soft-power strategies based on subtle influence to reduce tensions, rather than traditional hard-power coercion executed by extensive resource control (Nye Jr, 2004). In other words, taking a soft-power approach to potential competitive tension does not mean to step back but reflects a smart way to reach a win-win resolution. Such strategic decisions can then manage internal resource allocation so that inter-departmental conflicts between own-brand and OEM businesses can be reduced as well. Although the present research offers a complete decision framework, including key motivations, considerations, and possible variations for suppliers to define right-fit dual BMs, its exploratory nature also provides a basis for further research. First of all, based on our framework, future research can establish testable hypotheses to empirically validate our model, including the influence of decision constructs on model choice and the impact of model adoption on firm performance, among others. This would not only offer empirical results for model validation and hence contribute to the extant literature, which includes little empirical work (Markides, 2013), but also offer further insight concerning determinants and contingencies of dual BM adoption and hence enrich our understanding of dual BMs. The second area for future research is empirically investigating how various types of synergies can be realized and potential competitive and organizational tension can be resolved in implementing dual BMs. This is because while creating synergistic outcomes is essential for adopting dual BMs, sustaining the value created is the key to real model success. In addition to the use of soft-power to dynamically adjust types of dual BM, are there strategic measures useful for reducing potential tension? Research in this area would be a significant contribution to the growing literature of ambidexterity (e.g., Lavie et al., 2010).