The Supplier Governance Strategy in SEPs

Sharing economy platforms (SEPs) rely on suppliers for success, emphasizing their commitment as pivotal. While SEPs streamline interactions, they charge fees and offer value-added services. However, governance issues arise enforcing platform exclusivity and algorithmic exploitation. Suppliers, described as platform-dependent entrepreneurs, enhance platforms and benefit from customer reach. Though they enrich innovation, a power asymmetry exists, leading to platform-imposed rules. To address this, SEPs can foster supplier commitment through various strategies such as sharing resources and information, promoting platform openness, implementing effective big data governance and algorithmic management, and adopting value appropriation strategies. These approaches enhance collaboration, transparency, and fairness in the platform-supplier relationship, ultimately contributing to sustained success and mutual benefits for all stakeholders. This chapter utilizes resource dependency theory to elucidate SEPs’ supplier governance strategies, illustrated with an example from the delivery platform in China.