In the field of strategy, the concept is sometimes understood to apply to assets, infrastructure or capabilities needed to support the successful commercialization and marketing of a technological innovation, other than those assets fundamentally associated with that innovation.Teece, David J. 1986. Profiting from technological innovation: Implications for integration, collaboration, licensing and public policy. Research Policy 15 (6): 285-305. The term was first coined by David Teece. Key empirical studies on complementary assets were conducted by Frank T. Rothaermel.Rothaermel, F.T. 2001. Complementary assets, strategic alliances, and the incumbent’s advantage: An empirical study of industry and firm effects in the biopharmaceutical industry. Research Policy, 30 (8): 1235-1251.Rothaermel, F.T. 2001. Incumbent’s advantage through exploiting complementary assets via interfirm cooperation. Strategic Management Journal, 22 (6-7): 687-699.Rothaermel, F.T., Hill, C.W.L. 2005. Technological discontinuities and complementary assets: A longitudinal study of industry and firm performance. Organization Science, 16 (1): 52-70.
