Ecosystem Perspective Research Articles

Research on the transmission of the Open University of Japan courses via multi-device apps oriented to the learning ecosystem

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to propose the need for an integrated system for the production, authoring, addition and revision of webcast content and a multi-device apps mechanism with rights management for Internet transmission in the perspective of the OUJ course reuse.Design/methodology/approachThis paper designs systems that reuse the existing OUJ courses from the viewpoint of effective utilization, combine broadcasting lectures and online lectures of the OUJ courses and seamlessly link them as media-mix contents. In contrast to content development methodologies that assume embedded content production, this paper’s methodology takes an approach to producing and authoring webcasting content, flexibly adding and revising the content and transmitting that content over the internet via multi-device apps, taking rights management into account.FindingsThere is concern about the ELSI arising from the use of generative AI. It is directed at web content. This paper can contribute to resolving the ELSI surrounding the use of generative AI because it discusses a method of learning content development that clarifies the attribution of rights to content.Originality/valueThe originality of this paper lies in the fact that it is oriented to reuse existing lectures of the OUJ courses and simplify the rights clearance for them, from the perspective of the learning ecosystem. The value of this paper is that it can also serve as a technical and legal response to the production, authoring and Internet transmission of open university courses in the era of generative AI.

Harnessing the Power of Quasi–Supply Chains: Toward an Ecosystem Perspective for Transformative Supply Chain Management

Harnessing the Power of Quasi–Supply Chains: Toward an Ecosystem Perspective for Transformative Supply Chain Management

Intervention in the Treatment of Substance and Behavioral Addiction in Adolescents based on Motivational Interviewing: A Literature ReviewMengzhen Zhao

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a customer-centered treatment method, encouraging users’ behavioral change. The principal rules consist of empathy expression, discrepancy creation, resistance adaptation, and self-efficacy enhancement. This review examines MI’s application in adolescent substance and behavior addiction management, assessing its impact on increasing therapy engagement, curtailing addictive behaviors, improving peer relationships, and addressing coexisting mental health conditions from an ecosystem perspective based on personal perspective and psychology, family influence, peers and social environment. Findings demonstrate that MI significantly ameliorates adolescent addiction over both short-term and long-term periods. Future research should focus on cultural adaptation, implementation, training, managing comorbid cases, and evaluating long-term outcomes.

Towards a responsible gaming ecosystem: a call to action

Purpose Drawing from transformative service research (TSR) and service ecosystem perspectives, the author seeks to provide multi-level insights into gaming service systems and call to action how this knowledge can contribute to cultivating socially responsible gaming by addressing the following research questions: What insights from service ecosystem and TSR literature can help optimise value co-creation and cultivate socially responsible practices in digital gaming services? What future research directions could advance the understanding of digital gaming services and their potential to develop a responsible gaming ecosystem that balances social well-being with commercial success? Design/methodology/approach Adopting a conceptual approach of theory synthesis and adaptation, the author discusses four overarching themes alongside key research gaps and directions crucial for understanding the dynamics of gaming ecosystem. Findings The central themes – “Exploring individuals as game service consumers”, “Gaming service exchange dynamics among meso-level stakeholders”, “A macro lens to gaming service ecosystem” and “The complexities of multi-actor dynamics and interdependencies” – shed light on how responsible services can be fostered. Research limitations/implications Given the absence of a well-defined scope for understanding responsible gaming, future research should develop a typology to capture its multifaceted aspects. Expanding beyond micro-level analysis, conducting consultation interviews with industry practitioners and policymakers can contribute insights into promoting responsible gaming services. Social implications The author offers insights for the game players, designers and developers, service providers and policymakers to promote a healthy gaming culture. Originality/value Through this research, the author advances the understanding of gaming as a service by illuminating value co-creation and co-destruction within an interconnected gaming service ecosystem through the lens of TSR. Such understanding empowers businesses to prioritise consumer welfare in their decision-making and practices.

Terrestrial land use signals on groundwater fauna beyond current protection buffers.

Terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems are tightly linked, with direct implications for applied resource management and conservation. It is well known that human land use change and intensification of terrestrial systems can have large impacts on surface freshwater ecosystems. Contrastingly, the study and understanding of such land use impacts on groundwater communities is lagging behind. Both the impact strength of land use on groundwater communities and the spatial extents at which such interlinkages are operating are largely unknown, despite our reliance on groundwater for drinking water extraction as a key ecosystem service. Here, we analyzed groundwater amphipod occurrence from several hundred shallow groundwater aquifers used for drinking water extraction across a region of varying agricultural intensity and human population density in Switzerland. Despite drinking water extraction sites being generally built at locations with expected minimal aboveground impacts on water quality, we found a direct correlation between land use type and intensity within the surrounding catchment area and the locally measured nitrate concentrations, which is a direct proxy for drinking water quality. Furthermore, groundwater amphipods were more likely to be found at sites with higher forest coverage than at sites with higher crop and intensive pasture coverages, clearly indicating a tight connection between aboveground land use and groundwater biodiversity. Our results indicate that land use type effects on groundwater communities are most relevant and pronounced to spatial scales of about 400-1000 m around the groundwater sampling site. Importantly, the here identified spatial scale is 1.2- to 3-fold exceeding the average extent of currently defined groundwater protection zones. We postulate that incorporating an ecosystem perspective into groundwater management strategies is needed for effective protection of groundwater quality and biodiversity.

Mitigating risks and breaking barriers, energy supply contracting in multifamily houses: an ecosystem perspective

Mitigating risks and breaking barriers, energy supply contracting in multifamily houses: an ecosystem perspective

The economic and environmental viability of green and autonomous ships in inland shipping ecosystems

Abstract This paper explores the potential of using green, autonomous ships in revitalising inland shipping in Europe against the backdrop of declining market share and the dominance of “economy-of-scale” in waterborne freight transportation. It assesses the economic and environmental viability of converting freight from road- to waterborne modalities in broader business ecosystems, specifically along the Rotterdam-Ghent corridor. The analysis leverages operational and commercial insights from logistics firms, ports and terminal operators, combined with data on European goods flows by road, and accounts for operational, financial and environmental variables including realistic scenario building and ecosystem implications. Findings indicate that inland shipping in general and green, autonomous shipping in particular offer both economically and environmentally viable alternatives to road transport. The study calls for further research into green, autonomous ships from an ecosystem perspective as a potential solution to current challenges in sustainable freight transportation.

RESEARCH ON THE IMPACT OF DIGITAL CAPABILITY OF ENTERPRISES ON BUSINESS PERFORMANCE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF BUSINESS ECOSYSTEM

The study aims to investigate the interplay among digital capability, network capability, and value co-creation, the level of government digital governance, environmental uncertainty, and firm performance. This study summarized the high-tech manufacturing industry's value co-creation model from the perspective of the business ecosystem. It also added to previous research on the link between digital capability and enterprise performance and gave new research ideas for future studies on value co-creation in the business ecosystem. In practice, this study serves as a valuable guide for the development of high-tech manufacturing enterprises in China. It fosters the cultivation and promotion of digital capabilities within these industries, emphasizes the positive relationship between digital capabilities and enterprise performance, and guides high-tech manufacturing enterprises to prioritize value creation among multiple entities. We actively construct a business ecosystem and integrate both internal and external resources to generate value and foster mutually beneficial collaboration among various entities.

Fostering environmentally sustainable business: Analysis of factors from entrepreneurial ecosystem perspective

Sustainable business practices are paramount for long-term environmental preservation and fostering economic growth. Despite the extensive body of literature on various aspects of business sustainability, there remains a noticeable gap in understanding the fundamental factors influencing its adoption. Drawing on the entrepreneurial ecosystem perspective, this study endeavors to examine the hierarchical importance of various factors affecting the environmental sustainability of the business. Employing a comprehensive literature review, we meticulously identified a list of factors and performed analysis using data gathered from experts. In particular, we used Total Interpretive Structural Modelling and MICMAC approach to analyze the identified factors, with an aim to uncover their interlinkage and association. Our findings underscore the critical role played by the government in shaping business sustainability. Additionally, factors such as consumer, technological innovation, and market competition also hold substantial importance. In contrast, factors such as financial considerations, stakeholders, leadership dynamics, human resources, infrastructure, and internal organizational factors appear to have comparatively less influence. Our study not only reveals the significance of these factors but also unveils the intricate web of interrelationships among them. The resulting strategic theoretical framework offers valuable insights for managers and policymakers, highlighting the practical relevance and contextualized interactions among various factors.

Servitization and product service system: A literature review on value creation

In recent years, the concept of servitization has been widely applied in the management of enterprises. However, changing customer demands and competitive pressures of the market have compelled enterprises to seek innovation. Simultaneously, in the context of the Industry 4.0 trend, the rapid development of digital technologies has led to an increasing number of studies on the integration of servitization and digitization. Therefore, this study, based on VOSviewer, Gephi, Scimago Graphica, and Histcite, analyzes the current state and development trends of research on servitization and product service system innovation from the perspective of value creation. Initially, basic statistical characteristics such as the influential author, geographical cooperation, and highly cited papers are presented by collecting relevant data from the Web of Science core collection database. Subsequently, this study explores the research hotspots and evolutionary trends in servitization and product service system innovation through keyword co-occurrence analysis and cluster analysis. Lastly, from a literature analysis perspective, the application of advanced technologies in servitization, digital servitization from an ecosystem perspective, and the innovative use of microservices architecture in product service systems are summarized and forecasted as research directions, providing theoretical guidance for future research in servitization.

Legitimacy considerations in regulation for local mobile communication network business in Finland and the UK

The article explores the legitimacy of local 5G and upcoming 6G mobile communication networks in Europe. The paper paves the way for a new perspective for understanding the legitimacy of local 5G/6G mobile communication networks by applying the business model-based ecosystem perspective and legitimacy as a theoretical foundation. As regulations are expanding to consider the novel deployment model of local 5G and 6G mobile communication networks, the legitimacy of such networks is under-explored. Analyzing the regulatory approaches taken by two national regulatory authorities (NRA) in Europe, Finland and the UK, we identify seven legitimacy-related themes including innovation orientation, awareness and knowledge of how to build and design local networks, European harmonized spectrum management, competition, cybersecurity and risk assessment and equipment availability. Our study lays the groundwork for exploring how the application of the business model-based ecosystem perspective can be utilized to advance regulatory initiatives for local mobile communication network businesses. It also identifies which legitimacy-related aspects are involved in setting regulatory priorities.

Implementing circular business models for the second‐life battery of electric vehicles: Challenges and enablers from an ecosystem perspective

AbstractThis study adopts an ecosystem perspective to provide a detailed understanding of key challenges and enablers for implementing circular business models for electric vehicle battery second life. Although academia and practitioners believe electric vehicle (EV) batteries' second life is a potential solution, the commercial implementations are still far away. A crucial step toward such implementations is to identify the key challenges and enablers of circular business models. The criticality of this step is even more evident when approaching second life business models from an ecosystem perspective, where multiple stakeholders are involved in the creation, capture, and delivery of value. This research conducts an explorative study with 15 companies in the EV battery ecosystem and identifies nine categories of key challenges and seven categories of key enablers. Based on priority dimensions (short/long term) and the responsible entity (firm/ecosystem related), the study proposes a guiding framework to address challenges and enablers. The study contributes to the circular business model innovation and ecosystems literature related to the EV battery second life.

Seasonal Dynamics of the Silica-Scaled Chrysophytes as Potential Markers of Climate Change in Natural Model: Deep Cold Lake–Shallow Warmer Reservoir

In the context of global climate changes, it is important to assess the sustainability perspective of aquatic ecosystems based on marker organisms. In this work, we analyzed seasonal dynamics of silica-scaled chrysophytes in freshwater communicating environments which have considerable differences in water temperature between two ecosystems: the deep and cold oligotrophic Lake Baikal versus the shallower and warmer downstream Irkutsk Reservoir having mesotrophic features. During three seasons of the open water period of 2023, 38 species of silica-scaled chrysophytes were observed at 17 stations using scanning and transmission microscopy. The distribution of silica-scaled chrysophytes was shown to correlate with the water temperature. The greatest species richness was observed in the spring season in a large bay of the Irkutsk Reservoir (23 species), the smallest in the cold spring waters of Southern Baikal (up to 7 species). Widespread species living in Southern Baikal continued to grow in warmer waters of the reservoir. Using the example of silica-scaled chrysophytes, the stability of the high-latitudinal freshwater ecosystems affected by climate change is discussed. Continuous increment of the water temperature can lead to an increased abundance of widespread species and the displacement of psychrophilic species, affecting the overall biodiversity in such ecosystems.

Decoupled responses of the stability of above‐ and belowground productivity to drought and clipping in an alpine meadow

Abstract Extreme drought and intensification of land use pose substantial threats to ecosystem stability. However, existing studies that assess ecosystem stability focus primarily on the stability of aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP), while the stability of belowground net primary productivity (BNPP) is often not considered. Here, we examined the response patterns and drivers of ANPP stability and BNPP stability in an alpine meadow to drought and clipping (simulating grazing and mowing) by the implementation of five levels of simulated precipitation (1/12, 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 and ambient precipitation) and clipping (unclipped vs. clipped) treatments over 7 years (2016–2022). The results showed that extreme drought decreased ANPP stability, while moderate drought increased BNPP stability and net primary productivity stability. The findings highlight the importance of jointly considering above‐ and belowground processes when evaluating ecosystem stability. Moreover, clipping did not have an impact on ANPP stability but reduced BNPP stability, and clipping differentially affected the stability of ANPP and BNPP in response to extreme drought. Furthermore, ANPP stability was largely determined by species temporal asynchrony rather than richness, whereas dominant species stability strongly contributed to the variation in BNPP stability of this alpine meadow faced with drought and clipping. Synthesis: In general, these results provide experimental evidence for the decoupling of the responses of above‐ and belowground productivity stability to extreme drought and clipping. Our findings indicate that aboveground responses should not be used as the sole indicator of the whole ecosystem consequences of extreme drought and disturbance factors such as grazing or mowing, emphasizing the need to evaluate ecosystem stability from a whole ecosystem perspective.

How do stakeholders co-create value in a service ecosystem? Insight from mega-events

PurposeThis paper looks at how stakeholders co-create value at mega-events from a service ecosystem perspective. Despite the growing interest, little is known about how value is co-created through such initiatives for individual stakeholders and the community.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on institutional and stakeholder theory, the study focuses on Cortina 2021, the World Ski Championships held in Italy in February 2021. It investigates how multiple actors co-create value within a service ecosystem through qualitative interviews with key stakeholders combined with the analysis of official documents and reports.FindingsThe research established that key stakeholders were willing to get involved with Cortina 2021 if they recognised the value which could be co-created. Such an ecosystem requires a focal organisation with a clear regulative and normative framework and a common cultural basis. The latter helped resilience in the extraordinary circumstances of Cortina 2021 and safeguarded long-term impacts, even though the expected short-term ones were compromised.Practical implicationsFrom a managerial point of view, the evidence from Cortina 2021 shows how a clear strategy with well-defined stakeholder engagement mechanisms can facilitate value co-creation in service ecosystems. Moreover, when regulative and normative elements are blurred because of an extraordinary circumstance, resource integration and value creation processes need to be entrusted to those cultural elements that characterise an ecosystem.Originality/valueThe study takes an ecosystemic approach to mega-events to explore value creation for the whole community at the macro level, not only at the individual or organisational level, even during a crisis, which greatly impaired the preparation and running of the event.

Digital Policy, Green Innovation, and Digital-Intelligent Transformation of Companies

In the midst of rigorous market rivalry, enhancing a company’s competitiveness and operational efficiency in an era of rapid IT advancement is a pressing concern for business leaders. The National Big Data Comprehensive Zone (BDCZ) pilot scheme, instituted by the Chinese government, systematically addresses seven core objectives, encompassing data resource management, sharing and disclosure, data center consolidation, application of data resources, and the circulation of data elements. This policy initiative aims to bolster the establishment of information infrastructure through big data applications, facilitate the influx and movement of talent, and propel corporate sustainable growth. Utilizing a quasi-natural experiment approach, we assess the pilot policy’s influence on the digital-intelligent transformation (DIT) of manufacturing companies from a green innovation ecosystem perspective, employing datasets from 2010 to 2022, and methodologies such as Difference-in-Differences (DID), Synthetic Differences-in-Differences (SDID), and Propensity Score Matching-DID (PSM-DID). The findings indicate that the BDCZ initiative significantly fosters DIT in manufacturing companies. The policy’s establishment confers benefits, including access to increased government support and innovation capital, thereby enhancing the sustainability of green innovation efforts. It also strengthens corporate collaboration, engendering synergistic benefits that improve regional economic progression and establish a conducive environment for digital development, ultimately enhancing the regional innovation ecosystem. The pilot policy’s impact varies across entities, with more profound effects observed in developed financial markets compared to underdeveloped ones. Additionally, non-state-owned companies exhibit a greater response to BDCZ policy interventions than their state-owned counterparts. Moreover, manufacturing bussiness with a higher proportion of executive shareholding are more substantially influenced by the BDCZ. This article fills the research gap by using the quasi-natural experiment of BDCZ to test the impact on DIT of companies and provides inspiration for local governments to mobilize the enthusiasm of manufacturing companies for DIT.

Sustainable governance of natural gas exploration: A coastal forest ecosystem perspective

AbstractCoastal forest ecosystems can benefit from an empirical study of the sustainable governance of natural gas exploration. But, policymakers and practitioners cannot make informed decisions in the absence of thorough and comprehensive research. This study examines empirical research on the sustainable governance of natural gas exploration within the coastal forest ecosystem, identifies research gaps and outlines future directions. Researchers utilised the theories, context, characteristics, and methodologies (TCCM) analysis in the systematic narrative review of nine studies. The study findings revealed that sustainable governance of natural gas exploration to lessen coastal forest ecological consequences is questionable since most of the study indicated negative impacts on coastal forests. Furthermore, the study findings contributed by identifying the most prominent theories, such as economic theory and efficient taxation, which are thought to maximise long‐term economic benefits while minimising the degradation of forest ecosystems. Natural gas exploration‐related taxes have the potential to support conservation initiatives and coastal forest ecosystem restoration. Furthermore, the study acknowledges that most studies do not have guidelines for evaluating the concepts of sustainable governance. Moreover, the research suggests the need for sustainable governance that strikes a balance between the goals of natural gas development and the protection of coastal forest ecosystems, enacts laws and regulations that promote good governance towards the Green House Gases protocol, and sets up monitoring and control mechanisms. Furthermore, the government should provide incentives, such as research grants, to encourage research and dissemination, as well as sustainable management techniques for natural gas extraction and coastal forest ecosystem management and conservation.

Value co-creation in tourism living labs

The tourism industry is an ecosystem of suppliers, visitors, residents, destination marketing organizations, and entrepreneurs co-creating valuable experiences. Engagement of relevant actors and their collaboration are critical for innovation in the tourism (service) ecosystem. Living labs facilitate such collaboration in physical and virtual environments through parity-based partnerships among networks of actors. Taking an ecosystem perspective, this study advances the understanding of 1) how living labs can contribute to value co-creation in tourism destinations and 2) the requirements for effective co-creation. The findings from a three-phase mixed-method study with managers and participants of six tourism living labs underscore the relevance of actors, their motivations to engage, and structure for facilitating value co-creation within living labs. Effective co-creation processes lead to network growth and innovation, with resource availability being both a requirement and a perceived benefit of this co-creation.

Leveraging the digital ecosystem concept for development research and practice – potentials, limitations, and ways forward

ABSTRACT Shaping how information and communication technology (ICT) adoption supports sustainable development has become a major challenge for countries worldwide. The concept of a digital ecosystem has recently become prevalent among development organizations to aid diagnoses and guide actions addressing that challenge. However, not only are there various ways in which a digital ecosystem is conceptualized, but its meaning is also blurred with earlier uses in business studies. Against this backdrop, the present paper takes stock of how the digital ecosystem concept has come to be used as a tool to describe the state of ICT adoption in countries and understand ICT impacts on development outcomes. Systematizing existing uses of the concept, the paper distinguishes between a descriptive, enabler-centered, and actor-centered digital ecosystem perspective. It furthermore discusses existing uses of a digital ecosystem and the extent to which they realize the potential added value of this concept for development practice and research.

Governance of corporate social responsibility: a platform ecosystem perspective

PurposeThe sustainable development of the platform economy has been hindered by the absence and alienation of platform corporate social responsibility. Previous studies have mainly focused on the contents and governance models for platform corporate social responsibility. This study seeks to explore which strategy participants choose in the governance of platform corporate social responsibility and their influencing factors.Design/methodology/approachUsing a platform ecosystem approach, a quadrilateral evolutionary game model was developed, and the stabilities of subjects’ behavioral strategies and their combinations in various scenarios were analyzed. Additionally, the effects of key parameters on the system’s evolutionary path were simulated.FindingsThe ideal steady state system is achieved when platform enterprises, complementors and consumers adopt positive strategies while the government adopts lax regulation. Moreover, the evolutionary strategies of the subjects are influenced by several factors, including the participation costs of governance, the rewards and punishments imposed by platform enterprises, as well as the reputational losses of platform enterprises and complementors due to media coverage.Practical implicationsThis study offers insights into improving the governance effectiveness of platform corporate social responsibility for managers and practitioners.Originality/valueThis study contributes to existing literature by considering the rational orientation of platform ecosystem members and revealing the interaction mechanisms among members. Furthermore, this study combines collective action theory and reputation theory to clarify the influencing factors on members’ behaviors.