Options
Towards Ecosystems: A Qualitative Analysis on the Early Stage of Inter-Firm Collaboration
Type
doctoral thesis
Date Issued
2021-09-20
Author(s)
Huber, Florian
Abstract
The rules of our business game are changing ever faster. In particular, the rapid pace of digitization is dissolving the boundaries of previously rigid industries. It is therefore of fundamental importance for managers to broaden their perspective from the company level to a cross-industry view. In this way, firms have to compete with new competitors, but can also develop innovative value propositions and access new markets. For this reason, collaboration between firms is becoming increasingly important. Ecosystems are an innovative way of doing this. Ecosystems describe a group of firms that are aligned towards a common value proposition that is superior through the combination of the partners' core competencies. Interest in this phenomenon from science and practice has increased tremendously in recent years. Nevertheless, the research process is still in an initial stage and important questions remain unanswered. One central question, for instance, is how companies can successfully collaborate in ecosystems. At a deeper level of detail, this refers in particular to aspects of (i) ecosystem organizational structures, information processing and the role and perspectives of the two most important actors in ecosystems, (ii) orchestrators and (iii) complementors. These three research gaps are the motivation for this dissertation. In order to adequately address the individual questions, I conducted three multi-case studies. Firstly, my findings show three basic and distinct information processing structures of ecosystem actors. Secondly, the findings reveal the three types of single, double and multi-orchestrator ecosystems and elaborate on how firms allocate four key orchestrator tasks amongst ecosystem actors. Third, the results show three distinct types of complementors whose roles firms can perform dynamically. This dissertation thus not only addresses some of the key research questions of the ecosystem literature, but also provides important implications for managers. These implications help to design a targeted organizational structure and suitable orchestration model and to choose the right partners. In particular, they enable managers to anticipate their own role and the role of other partners in ecosystems based on their situation and goals. In other words: This thesis helps firms to successfully collaborate in ecosystems.
Abstract (De)
The rules of our business game are changing ever faster. In particular, the rapid pace of digitization is dissolving the boundaries of previously rigid industries. It is therefore of fundamental importance for managers to broaden their perspective from the company level to a cross-industry view. In this way, firms have to compete with new competitors, but can also develop innovative value propositions and access new markets. For this reason, collaboration between firms is becoming increasingly important. Ecosystems are an innovative way of doing this. Ecosystems describe a group of firms that are aligned towards a common value proposition that is superior through the combination of the partners' core competencies. Interest in this phenomenon from science and practice has increased tremendously in recent years. Nevertheless, the research process is still in an initial stage and important questions remain unanswered. One central question, for instance, is how companies can successfully collaborate in ecosystems. At a deeper level of detail, this refers in particular to aspects of (i) ecosystem organizational structures, information processing and the role and perspectives of the two most important actors in ecosystems, (ii) orchestrators and (iii) complementors. These three research gaps are the motivation for this dissertation. In order to adequately address the individual questions, I conducted three multi-case studies. Firstly, my findings show three basic and distinct information processing structures of ecosystem actors. Secondly, the findings reveal the three types of single, double and multi-orchestrator ecosystems and elaborate on how firms allocate four key orchestrator tasks amongst ecosystem actors. Third, the results show three distinct types of complementors whose roles firms can perform dynamically. This dissertation thus not only addresses some of the key research questions of the ecosystem literature, but also provides important implications for managers. These implications help to design a targeted organizational structure and suitable orchestration model and to choose the right partners. In particular, they enable managers to anticipate their own role and the role of other partners in ecosystems based on their situation and goals. In other words: This thesis helps firms to successfully collaborate in ecosystems.
Language
English
Keywords
Ökosystem
Organisation
Informationsvermittlung
Partner; EDIS-5111; Ecosystem; complementor; orchestrator; organization
HSG Classification
not classified
HSG Profile Area
None
Publisher
Universität St. Gallen
Publisher place
St.Gallen
Official URL
Subject(s)
Eprints ID
264367
File(s)