Strategic Leadership: Navigating dilemmas upon incumbent entry into nascent ecosystems

This dissertation is composed of three empirical studies, each a single-case qualitative investigation on the incumbent firm Atos. All three studies (Chapters 2-4) focus on the sociopolitical dynamics behind incumbent platform strategy formulation and implementation. Respectively, these chapters: showcase the multi-directional and intertemporal legitimization activities that middle managers must engage in to enact their visions (Chapter 2); analyze the importance of a platform strategy as a signaling tool as well as an innovation mechanism for the incumbent firm (Chapter 3); and theorize on stakeholder-centric challenges that platform leaders may experience when attempting to develop sustainability-related innovation strategies which diverge from their incumbent firms’ traditions.