Shaping Sustainable Service Ecosystems: An Analysis of Some Possible Enhancing Factors

Abstract

Over the last years, sustainability and sustainable development have gained momentum also in-service research. Thus, this works is aimed at investigating the evolutionary path that links the Viable Systems Approach (VSA), service systems and service ecosystems perspectives to the most recent challenges of sustainability. Therefore, the analysis has been focused on start-ups’ ability to survive contributing to the shaping of a service ecosystem, which long-term viability can be ensured merging efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability targets. In this direction, the way networked interactions, occurring between a number of different actors (e.g., start-ups, customers, incubators, venture capitalists, other corporations, banks, education and financial institutions, governments) and facilitated by the most recent technologies, can shape a sustainable service ecosystem able to ensure viability to the actors who populate it has been investigated. To this end, an empirical analysis has been conducted to better define the main processes that can shape a start-ups’ sustainable service ecosystem. This work represents one of the first attempts to investigate start-ups’ surviving according to a service ecosystem perspective. An agenda for further research has been defined in order to further advance the analysis.