Dance with some and dine with others: Ecosystem strategy, multiple ecosystems and leadership roles
Abdullai, Abdul-Rauf Larry (2018)
Pro gradu -tutkielma
2018
School of Business and Management, Kauppatieteet
Kaikki oikeudet pidätetään.
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2018082934238
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2018082934238
Tiivistelmä
This is an exploratory research aimed at furthering the understanding on the activities central players in business undertake to manage the complexities associated with their ecosystems. Admittedly, there exist extensive works on ecosystem leadership and strategies, nonetheless, quite a handful focus on how focal firms manage the relational and technological ecosystem complexities. Hence, the complexity attributes of ecosystems necessitated the interest to investigate the phenomenon which is considered timely and novel.
The research employed qualitative approach based on multiple case study on six S&P 500 companies. The overarching aim of the study was to identify, what roles do focal firms in business play and what strategies do they employ in their specific roles to manage the complexities surrounding their ecosystems. For better understanding of this phenomenon, the theoretical approach combined theories on ecosystems with the view of treating ecosystems as a complex adaptive systems (CAS). For the empirical process, seven thematic themes were developed to understanding the roles and strategies of focal firms and other peripheral actors in the ecosystem. In addition, evaluation matrix was crafted to highlight the robustness, productivity, niche creation, ecosystem size as well as the relational and technological complexities of the case firms’ ecosystems. Finally, a comparison techniques was utilized to identify differences and similarities of the focal firms’ ecosystem orchestration which revealed a relationship between ecosystem orchestration and ecosystem complexity.
The results highlighted several strategies employed by the focal firms indicating that ecosystem strategies are not discrete. Furthermore, the results showed that focal firms typically employed multiple roles in managing their involvement in multiple ecosystems. Complementors were also featured in this complex web of interdependency and interconnectedness. Overall, the results indicate that the more complex (both relational and technological) an ecosystem is, the more difficult it is to orchestrate and so focal firms aside leading the ecosystem, also adopt other roles such as complementing and participating in different ecosystems. The reverse is also true.
The research employed qualitative approach based on multiple case study on six S&P 500 companies. The overarching aim of the study was to identify, what roles do focal firms in business play and what strategies do they employ in their specific roles to manage the complexities surrounding their ecosystems. For better understanding of this phenomenon, the theoretical approach combined theories on ecosystems with the view of treating ecosystems as a complex adaptive systems (CAS). For the empirical process, seven thematic themes were developed to understanding the roles and strategies of focal firms and other peripheral actors in the ecosystem. In addition, evaluation matrix was crafted to highlight the robustness, productivity, niche creation, ecosystem size as well as the relational and technological complexities of the case firms’ ecosystems. Finally, a comparison techniques was utilized to identify differences and similarities of the focal firms’ ecosystem orchestration which revealed a relationship between ecosystem orchestration and ecosystem complexity.
The results highlighted several strategies employed by the focal firms indicating that ecosystem strategies are not discrete. Furthermore, the results showed that focal firms typically employed multiple roles in managing their involvement in multiple ecosystems. Complementors were also featured in this complex web of interdependency and interconnectedness. Overall, the results indicate that the more complex (both relational and technological) an ecosystem is, the more difficult it is to orchestrate and so focal firms aside leading the ecosystem, also adopt other roles such as complementing and participating in different ecosystems. The reverse is also true.