Understanding Business Ecosystems Using a Morphology of Value Systems

Overview:

Business ecosystems have become a novel type of value system in all economic sectors. Many of the world’s largest and most valuable companies operate with business ecosystem approaches. The lack of a uniform understanding of business ecosystems’ features and characteristics make it difficult for decision makers in companies to develop and implement effective business ecosystem strategies. We created a morphology that describes all value systems and applied it to business ecosystems. We link business ecosystem characteristics to current interorganizational research and also help practitioners operationalize the concept of business ecosystems. Companies can use the managerial implications we provide to leverage ecosystems and co-create value.

Keywords::

• Business ecosystem
• Morphology
• Interorganizational research
• Value systems
• Value co-creation

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Gerrit Hoeborn

Gerrit Hoeborn holds degrees in business administration and mechanical engineering from RWTH Aachen University and Tsinghua University. He is head of the ecosystem design section at the FIR (Institute for Industrial Management) at the RWTH Aachen University. His research focus is business transformation and digital business strategies. Through many industry projects he has gained extensive knowledge in business ecosystem design in various industries. In his work, he adeptly examines which actor constellations and exchange relationships are necessary and to what extent a digital infrastructure enables information-based value creation. [email protected]

Ruben Conrad

Ruben Conrad holds a degree in mechanical engineering from RWTH Aachen University. He is the head of the business transformation department at the FIR (Institute for Industrial Management) at the RWTH Aachen University. He has worked in Asia, North America, and Europe, including positions with Bayer AG and the University of St. Gallen. His work on research and industry projects have focused on the design of new value creation models and management systems in various industries. [email protected]

Rafael Götzen

Rafael Götzen holds a degree in business administration and mechanical engineering from University Duisburg-Essen. He is deputy head of the business transformation department and is responsible for the Digital Leadership section at FIR (Institute for Industrial Management) at the RWTH Aachen University. He is also a PhD student and project manager. He has worked on several transformation projects in the automotive, pharmaceutical, and consumer goods industries, which involved digital transformation and organizational development in production facilities. He investigated the behavior of executives and the positioning of companies in the business ecosystem. [email protected]

Christian Betz

Christian Betz is one of the managing directors of the Zurich-based startup Scrambl, which offers a skills-matching platform for young talents and companies. Prior to his startup activities, he completed his PhD in business innovation at the Institute of Information Management, University of St. Gallen. His academic research focused on collaborative value creation in business ecosystems. He was also a consultant at Accenture Strategy in banking for seven years, where he dealt with digital strategy, digital transformation, and the use of new technologies and their influence on the business model of banks. [email protected]

Pia Kerstin Neudert

Pia Kerstin Neudert is a doctoral candidate and research assistant at the Chair of Strategic and International Management at EBS Universität für Wirtschaft und Recht (Oestrich-Winkel). She holds a bachelor’s degree in aviation management from EBS Universität für Wirtschaft und Recht and a master’s degree in management from HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management (Leipzig). Her research examines innovation ecosystems, focusing on the interaction of new ventures and incumbent firms. Before joining EBS Universität für Wirtschaft und Recht, she worked as senior manager at Joint Venture & Partner Sales at the Lufthansa Group (Frankfurt am Main). [email protected]