Abstract

“The weak are the prey of the strong” seems to be the reality of business jungle. High power actors win and low-power actors fail. This research employs bricolage as a theoretical basis, and explores how low-power actors could reconstruct resources to respond to constraints imposed by high-power actors. This study examines the case of Advantech’s response to its German high-power competitor in the industrial computer market in Mainland China. This case study observes how the low-power actor inversed the high-power actor’s advantage into fragileness while constructing resources to change its relative power position. Theoretically, this article proposes a “power-inversing” model for resource construction, which recognizes the inevitable weakness of the high-power actors and enriches the diversity of bricolage theory. Practically, our research suggests three principles of bricolage: recognizing weakness from the strongest, converting foes into friends (so as to obtain resources), and shifting the power dynamics. By reversing the high-power actor’s stumbling blocks into stepping stones, it might not be impossible to change the law of competition.  

Keywords

bricolageresource constructionpower-inversing