Customer participation in business ecosystems: an integrated approach of system dynamics and fuzzy sets

Abstract

Today, customers are not only consuming products and services but also actively participating in creating value. However, there is little research on customer participation in business ecosystems. As such, effects of customer participation in business ecosystems remain under-researched. The purpose of this study is to measure the effects of customer participation on business ecosystem health. This study analyses the effects of customer participation by proposing an experimental framework that combines system dynamics modelling and fuzzy sets. The study identifies and simulates four types of business ecosystems (open customer-intensive, modest, partner-collaborated, and vertically controlled). The simulation results suggest that customer participation positively influences business ecosystem leader's (keystone) financial performance, innovation capability, and the business ecosystem's health. The simulation results show that: a) customer participation in production in operations, design, delivery, and sales positively influences a keystone's revenue and business ecosystem health; b) customer participation in promotion and idea generation increases a keystone's innovation capability. Furthermore, the results show that the effect of customer participation varies across the four types of business ecosystems. This study offers important theoretical and practical implications on four types of business ecosystems. They help practitioners develop better strategies to involve customers into co-creation and enhance the health of the business ecosystem.