Abstract
In recent years, the innovation ecosystem concept has received much attention in the strategy and innovation fields to address radical or discontinuous innovation. This study aims to explore the innovation ecosystem construct of incumbents in the face of technological discontinuities, focusing on the ecosystem actors (that is, incumbents, component providers, and complementors) and their activities for sustainable value creation. First, we conducted a literature review of 34 highly cited and relevant research documents discussing the innovation ecosystem concept to extract key phrases for the innovation ecosystem’s research framework. Then, through the lens of dynamic capabilities, the five core capabilities of incumbent focal firms—collaboration and networking, opportunity sensing, entrepreneurial orientation, knowledge management, and strategic flexibility—are derived as key elements of the research framework. In addition, the following case study conducted by the content analysis of two leading automobile incumbents, Volkswagen and Toyota, supports and concretizes the established research framework. We conclude that as the value chain in the industry is open to diverse emerging experts holding critical technologies in the era of discontinuous innovation, the ecosystem actors are extensively linked beyond existing industry boundaries. Next, incumbents’ proposed five core capabilities are essential for their successful navigation of the complex innovation ecosystem. Finally, the case study also indicates that the traditional automobile giants in the existing ecosystem are heading toward sustainable value creation via technology internalization and dominant platform building to transform themselves into leaders of a new innovation ecosystem in the era of Connected, Autonomous, Shared and Services, and Electric (C.A.S.E.) innovation in the automobile industry.
Highlights
IntroductionPublished: 29 January 2022In the rapidly changing business world that is increasingly becoming more complex and uncertain, most firms can hardly sustain their competitive advantages for a long time using the usual do-it-alone strategies [1]
Published: 29 January 2022In the rapidly changing business world that is increasingly becoming more complex and uncertain, most firms can hardly sustain their competitive advantages for a long time using the usual do-it-alone strategies [1]
According to the arguments described above and based on the conceptual scheme proposed in Grandstrand and Holgersson (2020), we propose the innovation ecosystem framework of incumbents in the face of technological discontinuities as shown in Figure 2, which is composed of three entities, namely ecosystem actors, activities, and artifacts [3]
Summary
Published: 29 January 2022In the rapidly changing business world that is increasingly becoming more complex and uncertain, most firms can hardly sustain their competitive advantages for a long time using the usual do-it-alone strategies [1]. The survival of firms in the modern world is highly dependent on the benefits of an overall business ecosystem. Studies in innovation and technology management are increasingly focusing on the complicated networks of diverse actors in business ecosystems rather than on firm-level phenomena [3,4,5]. As technology progression is shaped by the activities of the heterogeneous participants composing the ecosystem, individual firms tend to rely on independent collaborators or complementors to enhance the value of their technology platform [7,8]. The ecosystem perspective considers the actor network of loosely connected independent actors over which the focal firm has no direct
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
