This document discusses innovation ecosystems and outlines potential areas for further research. It notes that innovation ecosystems involve interdependent firms that work cooperatively to create value. Successful management of an ecosystem is important for firm success. The document then discusses different perspectives on ecosystems from various discussants. These include examining competing platforms, barriers to collaboration between and within firms, rules for multi-firm collaboration, and the role of universities in local innovation ecosystems. The document concludes that ecosystems are increasingly important but more research is needed, especially extending the ideas beyond information and communication technologies sectors.
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Innovation Ecosystems:
Benefits, Challenges, and
Structures
Discussion
August 5, 2014
Joel West
Professor, Innovation & Entrepreneurship
School of Applied Life Sciences
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Innovation Ecosystems
â˘âŻInterdependence between firms
â˘âŻ Joint need for ecosystem health
â˘âŻ Work cooperatively to create value
â˘âŻ Specialization and niche finding
â˘âŻOften lead by dominant firm
â˘âŻ Firm success depends on ecosystem management skills
â˘âŻ Importance of building healthy and complete ecosystem
Moore 1993, Iansiti & Levien, 2004, Adner, 2012
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Users
Smartphone Ecosystems
West & Wood, Advances in
Strategic Management (2013)
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Networks, Communities
â˘âŻ Networks link multiple organizations via
transactions or ongoing ties
â˘âŻ Powell, 1990; Gomes-Casseres, 1996; Staudenmayer et al, 2000
â˘âŻ Communities add shared identity and governance
â˘âŻ Markus, 2007; von Hippel, 2007; OâMahony & Lakhani, 2011
â˘âŻ Ecosystems link firms that provide complementary
goods and services
â˘âŻ Moore, 1993; Iansiti & Levien, 2004; Adner & Kapoor, 2010
â˘âŻ Platforms combine a technical compatibility
architecture with an ecosystem
â˘âŻ Gawer & Cusumano, 2002; West, 2003; Eisenmann, 2008
See West, New Frontiers in Open Innovation (2013)
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Marengo: Platforms
â˘âŻInterdependence and complementarity
of ecosystems
â˘âŻParticular interest in platforms
â˘âŻComplex systems
â˘âŻMutual interest in platform success
â˘âŻNeed to evolve ecosystem and its outputs
â˘âŻStudied via a model
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Marengo: Further Research
â˘âŻOpportunity to generalize insights on
dynamic platform competition
â˘âŻExamine competing platforms
â˘âŻFour basic types of platform contests (Gallagher &
West, 2009):
â˘âŻStatic (VCR)
â˘âŻEpisodic (early videogames)
â˘âŻLinked (cellphones, current videogames)
â˘âŻContinuous (smartphones, social media)
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Miles: Communities
â˘âŻWe know collaboration is important
â˘âŻWhat are the barriers between firms?
â˘âŻWhat are the barriers within firms?
â˘âŻIs it driven by firm (or societal) norms?
â˘âŻHow can we change things?
â˘âŻDirect links to cumulative innovation
â˘âŻAllen, 1983; Nuvolari, 2004; Scotchmer, 2004; Murray
& OâMahony, 2007; also von Hippel, 2005
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Miles: Further Research
â˘âŻMany firms compete w/o cooperating
â˘âŻRarer are examples of firm cooperation
â˘âŻInventors of the airplane (Meyer, 2013)
â˘âŻStandardization communities (Axelrod et al, 1995;
Leiponen, 2008; Simcoe, 2012)
â˘âŻOpen source software (West, 2003; Stam, 2009;
Spaeth et al, 2010)
â˘âŻAre differences attitudinal or strategic?
â˘âŻAn open empirical questions
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Snow: Communities
â˘âŻMulti-firm innovation ecosystems
â˘âŻHow can firms best collaborate?
â˘âŻWhat are the rules?
â˘âŻWhat benefits can be realized?
See Fjelstad et al (2012), Moore (1993)
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Snow: Further Research
â˘âŻWe have examples of the architecture of
interfirm collaboration
â˘âŻ West & OâMahony, 2008; Fjeldstad et al, 2012
â˘âŻBut need a more general solution
â˘âŻ What are the fundamental axioms?
â˘âŻ Moderators?
â˘âŻ Contracts and property rights?
â˘âŻOther research designs (experiments,
simulations, ethnographic, etc.)
â˘âŻ Cf. OâMahony & Ferraro, 2007; Terwiesch & Xu 2008
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Teece & Leih: Local
Ecosystems
â˘âŻWhat is the proper role for a university
in the local innovation ecosystem?
â˘âŻHow can it be made more effective?
â˘âŻWhat are the needs of new firms?
â˘âŻHow can both parties benefit?
â˘âŻWill this corrupt the university?
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Teece & Leih: Further
Research
â˘âŻSome of this is well-trodden
â˘âŻUniversities as seeds of local industry
clusters (cf. Kenney & Mowery 2014)
â˘âŻUniversity tech transfer
â˘âŻUniversity-firm open system
â˘âŻMeasuring ongoing flows (both ways)
â˘âŻMeasuring simultaneous ties
â˘âŻRole of boundary spanners
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Final Thoughts
â˘âŻEcosystems are increasingly recognized
as important to firm success
â˘âŻImportant to theory and practice
â˘âŻAn opportunity for future research
â˘âŻConsiderable research on ICT and other digital goods
â˘âŻHow do these ideas extend beyond ICT?
â˘âŻE.g. Kim et al 2014 study of Chez Panisse
â˘âŻClearly delineate overlap with other constructs