Today, many companies operate within a complex network of firms that all depend on each other for success. In this book, authors Marco Iansiti and Roy Levien use the powerful example of biological ecosystems to show how companies can leverage these emerging business networks for long-term success. The book's title, "The Keystone Advantage", is taken directly from biology - it refers to "keystone species", which proactively maintain the healthy functioning of their entire ecosystem for a simple reason: their own survival depends on it. In the same way, say the authors, companies can protect and ensure their own success by deliberately fostering the combined health of the network they operate in.
Understanding Business Ecosystems: How Firms Succeed in the New World of Convergence? builds on strategic management and innovation management academic contributions to better understand theoretical and empirical challenges of business ecosystems. Even if the concept of business ecosystem was coined in 1993, it will lie fallow during more than ten years before gaining scholars’ interest. Managers will however recognize the relevance of this concept as it grasps the complexity of their business reality in terms of new collaborative and innovative strategies. Thus, the main purpose of this book is twofold. On the one hand, the objective is to identify the epistemological and theoretical fundamentals of business ecosystems, and on the other hand, the purpose is to analyse the various managerial challenges. This volume analyses in particular the issues of knowledge management, coopetition strategies, platforms, governance, etc. Understanding Business Ecosystems: How Firms Succeed in the New World of Convergence? is finally a key reference book that innovates by integrating for the first time well known French speaking scholars’ contributions from the strategy and innovation management fields.
Nowhere on Earth is the challenge for ecological understanding greater, and yet more urgent, than in those parts of the globe where human activity is most intense - cities. People need to understand how cities work as ecological systems so they can take control of the vital links between human actions and environmental quality, and work for an ecologically and economically sustainable future. An ecosystem approach integrates biological, physical and social factors and embraces historical and geographical dimensions, providing our best hope for coping with the complexity of cities. This book is a first of its kind effort to bring together leaders in the biological, physical and social dimensions of urban ecosystem research with leading education researchers, administrators and practitioners, to show how an understanding of urban ecosystems is vital for urban dwellers to grasp the fundamentals of ecological and environmental science, and to understand their own environment.
This book describes the state-of-the-art of software ecosystems. It constitutes a fundamental step towards an empirically based, nuanced understanding of the implications for management, governance, and control of software ecosystems. This is the first book of its kind dedicated to this emerging field and offers guidelines on how to analyze software ecosystems; methods for managing and growing; methods on transitioning from a closed software organization to an open one; and instruments for dealing with open source, licensing issues, product management and app stores. It is unique in bringing together industry experiences, academic views and tackling challenges such as the definition of fundamental concepts of software ecosystems, describing those forces that influence its development and lifecycles, and the provision of methods for the governance of software ecosystems. This book is an essential starting point for software industry researchers, product managers, and entrepreneurs.
How to succeed in an era of ecosystem-based disruption: strategies and tools for offense, defense, timing, and leadership in a changing competitive landscape. The basis of competition is changing. Are you prepared? Rivalry is shifting from well-defined industries to broader ecosystems: automobiles to mobility platforms; banking to fintech; television broadcasting to video streaming. Your competitors are coming from new directions and pursuing different goals from those of your familiar rivals. In this world, succeeding with the old rules can mean losing the new game. Winning the Right Game introduces the concepts, tools, and frameworks necessary to confront the threat of ecosystem disruption and to develop the strategies that will let your organization play ecosystem offense. To succeed in this world, you need to change your perspective on competition, growth, and leadership. In this book, strategy expert Ron Adner offers a new way of thinking, illustrating breakthrough ideas with compelling cases. How did a strategy of ecosystem defense save Wayfair and Spotify from being crushed by giants Amazon and Apple? How did Oprah Winfrey redraw industry boundaries to transition from television host to multimedia mogul? How did a shift to an alignment mindset enable Microsoft's cloud-based revival? Each was rooted in a new approach to competitors, partners, and timing that you can apply to your own organization. For today's leaders the difference between success and failure is no longer simply winning, but rather being sure that you are winning the right game.
A volume devoted to understanding the competitive and collaborative challenges that firms face when interacting with different actors in dynamic environments increasingly referred to as business or innovation 'ecosystems'. New findings in 'ecosystem analysis' are discussed and the unique roles of individual actors within this system explained.
A landmark book that strives to provide both grand theory and practical application, innovatively describing the structure and dynamics of human ecosystems As the world faces ever more complex and demanding environmental and social challenges, the need for interdisciplinary models and practical guidance becomes acute. The Human Ecosystem Model described in this landmark book provides an innovative response. Broad in scope, detailed in method, at once theoretical and applied, this grand study offers an in-depth understanding of human ecosystems and tools for action. The authors draw from Goethe’s Faust, classic anthropology and sociology studies, contemporary ecosystem ecology, Buddhist ethics, and more to create a paradigm-shifting model and a major advance in interdisciplinary ecology.
Reinvigorate your innovation approach with business ecosystems In a business ecosystem, different companies collaborate along and across previously sacrosanct industry barriers, encouraging innovation and the development of groundbreaking new products and services. Design Thinking for Business Growth delivers an eye-opening, fresh approach to designing and scaling business models and ecosystems. In this book, Michael Lewrick delivers a comprehensive procedural model for the design, development, and implementation of business ecosystems. He also presents the most critical design methods and tools you’ll need to make your own ecosystem a success. Fleshed out case studies and examples of companies with successful business ecosystem initiatives A mindset for business growth, including the use of “design lenses” and the exploitation of momentum and speed to facilitate innovation Practical exercises to better understand and implement the ideas discussed in the book Perfect for founders, managers, and executives in industries of all types, Design Thinking for Business Growth also belongs in the libraries of product managers, department heads, and non-profit professionals who wish to better understand how to develop new and innovative ideas that lead to company growth and success. With a topical view of the design paradigm, Design Thinking for Business Growth complements the international bestsellers The Design Thinking Playbook and The Design Thinking Toolbox. If you are ready to apply a new design thinking mindset for remarkable business growth, Design Thinking for Business Growth is your ultimate tool for success.
By bringing together elements of a radical new approach to the firm based on a biological metaphor of the ecosystem, this unique book extends the limits of existing theories traditionally used to investigate business networks.
This is a guide to understanding entrepreneurial ecosystems: what they are, why they matter, and to whom they matter. Ben Spigel explores this popular new theory of economic development, locating the intellectual roots of ecosystems, explaining the practices and processes that allow ecosystems to support the creation and growth of innovative entrepreneurial firms.
