Cluster Comput DOI 10.1007/s10586-017-0906-4

Research from the perspective of resource orchestration on digital ecosystem Zhengyan Cui1 · Taohua-Ouyang1

Received: 14 January 2017 / Revised: 1 May 2017 / Accepted: 3 May 2017 © Springer Science+Business Media New York 2017

Abstract Since digital technologies have brought opportunities for marginal enterprises to rise, it deserves attentions from the academia about how marginal enterprises reconfigure ecosystems. This thesis has a case study of Duch Group (Duch) in 3D printing from the perspective of resource orchestration. It deeply investigates the dynamic process of how marginal enterprises reconfigure the ecosystem by digital technologies and attain the core position. It is found that the marginal enterprises, adhering to the “point-line-surface” principle, successively reconfigure the manufacturing process, industry chain and ecosystem by implementing actions of structuring, bundling and leveraging on the key resources such as digital technologies to attain the core position. This research benefits both academics and practitioners by contributing to cumulative theoretical developments and by offering practical insights. Keywords Digital ecosystem · Resource orchestration · Marginal enterprise · Reconfigure · 3D printing

1 Introduction The emerging digital technologies represented by Internet technologies have changed enterprises’ value-creating ways and competition basis, gradually moving the mode of production from supply-oriented to demand-oriented [1]. The competition and innovation have been extended to the entire

B

Taohua-Ouyang [email protected] Zhengyan Cui [email protected]

1

School of Economics and Management, Beihang University, Beijing, China

ecosystem, rather than among individual enterprises [2]. The digital technologies have brought innovations, new designs and learning modes to the ecosystem [3]. These changes, on one hand, challenged the core enterprises in the ecosystem [4]. For example, Kodak and Nokia descended from hegemons dramatically. On the other hand, these changes have also brought opportunities for the marginal enterprises to rise [5]. For instance, LETV, starting from providing marginal businesses, such as free videos, has gradually grown to be the core enterprise integrating “platforms, contents, terminals and apps”. What are the underlying reasons behind those phenomena? How did the enterprises rise from margin to core applying digital technologies? The existing studies of the ecosystem focus on how the core enterprises evolve and how they govern the ecosystem [2,6], while there are few research focus on how the marginal enterprises build the ecosystem and grow to be the core [3,7,8]. The above phenomena also show that enterprises are not born to be the core. They usually have to rise from the marginal position in the ecosystem [5]. The core enterprises dominate the entire business ecosystem [9], because they have controlled over the core resources [10]. But in a dynamic environment the core resources are constantly changing. Therefore, the main question is how the core enterprises use core resources to maintain their advantage and core positions in a constantly changing environment. Resource orchestration theory provides a perspective which emphasizes the necessity of orchestrating key resources with a dynamic condition. Through resource orchestration enterprises can create values by those resources to generate sustainable competitive advantages [11]. Hence, the resource orchestration theory is helpful to solve the above question. In the light of this, this thesis, based on resource orchestration theory, has a case study of Duch Group (hereinafter

123

Cluster Comput

referred to as Duch), a leading enterprise in 3D printing. The authors had a deep research of how marginal enterprises in the old ecosystem reconfigure it by orchestrating key resources like digital technologies and rise to the core position. This research provides guidance for marginal enterprises to reconfigure the ecosystem and acquire the core position by emerging digital technologies.

2 Literature review and framework analysis 2.1 Digital ecosystem and focal enterprises In management research, “ecosystem” usually refers to a network composed of interconnected organizations surrounding a core enterprise [9,12] or platform [13]. The concept of ecosystem can help us understand that in a business context, an enterprise should be regarded as one part of an ecosystem spanning multiple industries, rather than an individual in one single industry [12,14]. The digital technologies will both help integrate the focal enterprises in the ecosystem to a large extent and help organizations better perceive and respond to environment changes [15]. This is an important factor driving the ecosystem into a digital one [16]. The digital ecosystem bundles different interest groups by digital technologies [15], forming stable or unstable federations based on common interests among focal enterprises [17]. According to the different dependency relations among focal enterprises in the ecosystem, the enterprises can be divided into three groups: keystone, dominators and niche players [18]. The roles of keystone and dominators are mainly performed by core enterprises which can promote or hold back the sound development of business ecosystems [19]. The niche players, performing as participants, are marginal in the ecosystem. Depending on the core enterprises, they do not perform the key functions such as building or managing the network. This is because, firstly, the marginal enterprises are small and do not have the strong power to maintain the ecosystem development. Secondly, the resources and capabilities of the marginal enterprises are usually confined to some narrow professional area with which the other enterprises cannot create values [18]. So the marginal enterprise in this thesis is defined as subsidiary and supplementary enterprises mainly providing auxiliary or additional products. However, with the advent of the digital age, digital technology enables enterprises and individuals more channels to acquire more resources. These make the marginal enterprise may grow into a core business. The previous research of ecosystem mainly attach importance to the evolution of core enterprises and ecosystem governance [6,20,21], hardly focusing on how the marginal enterprises build ecosystems and grow to be the core [3,7,8].

123

So it deserves our efforts to investigate the process of how the niche players evolve into the core players. 2.2 Resource orchestration The resource-based view mainly explores the relations between resource properties and enterprises’ competitive advantages, but ignores the studies of how managers utilize resources and how resources form and evolve [11,22]. So the resource-based view cannot explain why enterprises owning the same resource basis have different competitive positions [23]. Sirmon et al. [11] on the basis of the static resourcebased view introduced a dynamic view and came up with the resource orchestration theory that managers’ dynamic management of resources is the basis of enterprises’ core capabilities and competitive advantages. Resource orchestration involves three actions: (1) resource structuring: structure the focal resources by acquiring, accumulating and divesting resources and then match them with the external environment, (2) resource bundling: establish core capabilities by stabilizing, enriching and pioneering resources, (3) resource leveraging: take the advantages of market opportunities and create values by mobilizing, coordinating and deploying resources [11]. The resource orchestration theory subdivides the components of strategic resource management [24] and emphasizes that managers’ dynamic role of resources exerts more influences on competitive advantages than resources themselves [25]. This also explains why owning same resources, some enterprises have superior performance to that of the others [26]. But the existing research of resource orchestration focus on its components and its influences on the strategies or life cycles of enterprises [11,24] while lacking in-depth discussions of how resource orchestration affects the dynamic evolution of enterprises.

3 Research methodology 3.1 Method and case selection There are two reasons why case study method is adopted. Firstly, the research aims to answer “how” marginal enterprises reconfigure the ecosystem and rise from the marginal position to the core. Since it belongs to the category of the “how” question, the case study method appears to be more appropriate [27]. Secondly, since this study is going to reveal how marginal enterprises reconfigure the ecosystem by resource orchestration, a question the existing literature has not fully explained, the case study method will be more efficient than quantitative research in finding causalities [27,28]. There are also two reasons why Duch is taken as the case sample of this research. The first reason is that Duch

Cluster Comput Table 1 Interview list and topics Position/departments

The number of interviewees

Time duration (h)

Keywords

President

1

2.5

Strategic estimate, strategic plan

International Trade Department

4

5

Product sales, customer demands

Mold Development Department

3

3

Product R&D, customer feedback

Prototype Manufacturing Department

2

2

Customer demands, product innovation

3D Printing Manufacturing Base

3

4

Product R&D, technological innovation

is both the leading enterprise in the industry and the typical marginal enterprise which has risen to the core, complying with the principle that the case should be significant and representative [29]. Secondly, the previous research of ecosystems do not attach enough importance to the interactions between resource orchestration and ecosystem reconfiguring of marginal enterprises, while Duch is closely related to the effective utilization of resources such as digital technologies while reconfiguring the ecosystem. So studying Duch’s reconfiguring of ecosystems from the perspective of resource orchestration can improve the relevant theories of resource orchestration and ecosystem [30]. 3.2 Data collection Data were primarily collected from the following three sources: (1) semi-structured interviews conducted in November 2015, and interviewing a total of 13 informants (Table 1), (2) internal archival materials, such as corporate annual reports, rules and regulations, and (3) public sources, including books, news and publications written about Duch. The reasons for collecting data from multiple sources was to establish a unique perspective incorporating both organizational ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’ points of view [31] and to triangulate the themes and conclusions [27,32]. 3.3 Data analysis Data analysis was conducted simultaneously as data collection to take advantage of the flexibility that the case study method offers [33]. Based on the collected data, to facilitate the investigation of digital ecosystem evolution with different resource orchestration actions, we divided the events and activities into three distinct phases: the gaining phase, integration phase and expansion phase. The preliminary theoretical model was validated and revised accordingly by three independent steps. First, the collected data are broken down into themes [34], examined, compared for similarities and differences, and categorized [35], until a final set of themes was developed. This “open coding” method was conducted to eliminate unrelated

data within the value of comments collected and its potential for variance [35]. Second, we ensure that every piece of evidence which was used in the construction of the case study is triangulated by at least two sources of data [27] for the sake of eliminating bias in our interpretation. Third, we checked the alignment of existing theories, data, and the emergent model [36] repeatedly. The data analysis followed an iterative process of shifting our research focus among empirical data, relevant literature, and the emerging model until theoretical saturation was reached [37].

4 Case description Duch was established in 1996. Starting business from rapid prototyping and extending its industry chain both upward and downward, it has now developed into an enterprise focusing on design and R&D and integrated equipment supply, R&D, sales and service all in one. By 2016, Duch has possessed of eight wholly-owned subsidiaries, covering nine ecosystems, namely smart products, aeronautics and astronautics, military equipment, cultural and creative products, environment-friendly equipment, medical apparatus, biotechnology, 3D printing design and development and automobile design. Duch has become the leading enterprise with the largest scale and soundest supporting services for industrial design in the domestic industry. The process of Duch reconfiguring ecosystem can be divided into three phases: the gaining phase, integration phase and expansion phase, which were mainly based on case data characteristics. 4.1 Gaining phase: 3D printing technologies upgrade the manufacturing process In 2003, Duch noticed that 3D printing would match the individualized market demands, but at that time, this technology had not been widely used. So Duch set up a specialized R&D team and cooperated with European teams who mastered the core technology of 3D printing to develop 3D control software and 3D printing equipment.

123

Cluster Comput Table 2 Gaining phase: resource orchestration actions and the dynamic evolution of digital ecosystems Gaining phase

Supporting data

The effectiveness of reconfiguring the digital ecosystem Involving manufacturing

3D printing enables us to go beyond producing molds and to manufacture products more quickly: President

Shortening manufacturing process

The production process of CNC machining is divided into parts where design, manufacturing and post-processing are independent. But 3D printing has integrated these parts and carried them on simultaneously, both simplifying structures and saving time: Product Manager

Resource orchestration actions Acquiring, accumulating and divesting

In 2003, we cooperated with many European organizations to co-develop the control codes and equipment for 3D printing. When 3D printing sprang up in China, we have already taken a leading position both in terms of technologies and costs: President Since we produced prototypes for various global industries, we have accumulated many design resources and concepts in new materials, new craftsmanship and new technologies. The capacities of 3D printing are three times as many as that of traditional CNC and the human resources 3D uses are 90% less than that of CNC. So we have been making efforts to replace CNC machining with 3D printing: Product Director

In 2012, Duch established the Vistar International 3D Printing Space and put the 3D printing technologies it had incubated for years into production line. The manufacturing process of 3D printing is 90% shorter than that of CNC machining. This is because, different from the complicated process of CNC, 3D printing only needs you to input orders to the computer and will transform design into products both quickly and accurately. Also, 3D printing is feasible in all kinds of product forms, breaking the technological limitations of CNC. So 3D printing has improved the productivity and resource efficiency. Besides, based on its accumulated craftsmanship, Duch added another procedure—surface treatment in the final stage, complementing 3D printing products’ weakness of having bumpy surfaces, however many 3D printing enterprises do not attach importance to this aspect. Acquiring 3D printing technologies, Duch who in the past could only produce molds has attained manufacturing abilities and shortened the manufacturing process. The corroborating evidence is presented in Table 2.

4.2 Integration phase: digital technologies link all parts of the industry chain In 2012, Duch planned to establish a 3D printing base. Applying 3D printing and Internet technologies, Duch could link customers with its internal design and manufacturing resources through two platforms: its client and base. Its client, with smart transforming software, can transform customer needs and ideas into production orders readable to 3D printers, enabling customers to perform as product designers. The base then will receive the production orders which will be put into production immediately. By doing so, Duch can reduce

123

the storage cost, shorten production lead time and achieve entire automation and instant sharing of information. In 2013, Duch led to build a platform called “Pursuing Dream Alliance” through which Duch collected the resources of global designers and help to realize their designs into samples for free. Then Duch would complete the first-round financing for the samples through crowdfunding sites (Duch has established crowdfunding relations with Kickstarter, Taobao Crowdfunding, JD Finance, etc.) on the platform. This can complement Duch’s weakness of lacking design professionals. Meanwhile, Duch has also combined this with the original offline sales channel, selling 3D printing products both online and offline. The “Pursuing Dream Alliance” has both explored external design resources and extended the sales channels. In order to be less dependent of the vendors of 3D printing materials and equipment, Duch cooperated with both domestic and international professional manufacturers and developed the raw materials of 3D printing at half the price. Duch has also innovated the introduced 3D printing equipment, both improving the various machine models and reducing the equipment costs. After reducing the costs of raw materials and equipment, Duch sold these products through market segmentation and extended Duch’s sources of profits and business scopes. This helps Duch enjoy cost advantages and improve its competitiveness. The digital technologies, such as 3D printing and the Internet, enabled Duch to go beyond the traditional businesses, like design and mold making. Targeting at customer needs, Duch has both integrated the stages of the industry chain, namely design, production, material supply, sales, logistics and clients, and omitted storage and other procedures, shortening the original industry chain. The supporting evidence of the above content is presented in Table 3.

Cluster Comput Table 3 Integration phase: resource orchestration actions and the dynamic evolution of digital ecosystems Integration phase

Supporting data

The effectiveness of reconfiguring the digital ecosystem Shortening the industry chain

Duch integrated the R&D, production and sales of 3D printing, omitting the unnecessary links: President

Integrating the segments of the industry chain

Our idea is to form a closed-loop ecological chain for industrial design: Design Director

Resource orchestration actions Pioneering and enriching

We have connected many global designers through “Pursuing Dream Alliance”. The designers can print their products directly on this platform and conversely, their ideas can enrich our design library: Design Director

Table 4 Expansion phase: resource orchestration actions and the dynamic evolution of digital ecosystems Expansion phase

Supporting data

The effectiveness of reconfiguring the digital ecosystem Enhancing original business boundaries

Applying 3D printing technologies, we have upgraded the traditional house decoration in its ways, materials and craftsmanship: Production Manager

Expanding business boundaries

Our design should be radiated to various areas, instead of being confined to cell phones or household appliances like refrigerators: Design Director

Resource orchestration actions Coordinating, pioneering and deploying strategies

Considering that the all-in-one manufacturing method of 3D printing can enable the products to better match the designs, we started to cooperate with auto enterprises in the manufacturing of spare parts, such as bumpers, dashboards and power unit shields: CTO

4.3 Expansion phase: 3D printing technologies expand the ecosystem boundaries For manufacturing technology and material development, 3D printing is disruptive. Duch has a good command of 3D printing technologies, enabling it to utilize its expertise in design and extend the technologies to more ecosystems, like aeronautics and astronautics, auto spare parts, etc. Duch is the only enterprise in industrial design having the qualification of military design, but in the past, it only did some businesses in appearance verification commissioned by some aeronautic and astronautic enterprises. Since the all-in-one manufacturing method of 3D printing can improve the products’ structural stability and can be dealt with complicated products, this manufacturing method brought opportunities for Duch to design and produce aeronautic and astronautic products. 3D printing, however, cannot meet the demand that aeronautic and astronautic products must resist high temperature. So in order to solve this problem, Duch cooperated with external material vendors to co-develop high-temperature-resistant spray paints. This paint sprayed on the surface of 3D printing products can enhance the thermal resistance, meeting the demand that aeronautic and astronautic products must be solid and hightemperature-resistant. The 3D printing technology can be

applied in the production of airplane parts, such as the wings, cradle heads, fuel tanks and shields. Duch thus has received more orders from military enterprises, such as China Avionics Systems Co., Ltd. Table 4 contains supporting data to the above content.

5 Case analysis The objective of this research is to build a model of how marginal enterprises reconfigure the ecosystem (refer to Fig. 1). Analyzing Duch from the perspective of resource orchestration opens the black box of how traditional enterprises rise from the marginal position in the old ecosystem to the core in the new one. It can be found from this case that orchestrating key resources such as digital technologies, Duch has gradually completed its reconfiguring of the ecosystem. 5.1 Gaining phase: resource orchestration contributes to reconfigure manufacturing process In the traditional industry chain, industrial design is narrowly defined as appearance design. Holding a small share of the industry chain, the enterprises of industrial design are in the subsidiary and supplementary position. Duch, focus-

123

Cluster Comput Fig. 1 A process model of resource orchestration in digital ecosystem evolution. The red dots represent newly added resources (Color figure online)

Phases

Resource orchestration actions

The process of reconfiguring the ecosystem Outcome

Fig. 2 Resource orchestration propels enterprises to reconfigure the manufacturing process

Gaining Phase Acquiring external R&D resources of digital technologies, accumulating internal design resources and divesting the production links of CNC.

Integration Phase Pioneering external potential design resources and enriching internal platform resources.

Reconfigure the manufacturing process

Reconfigure the industry chain

Converting internal manufacturing experience, pioneering business scopes and deploying new businesses in the ecosystem.

Reconfigure the boundary of the ecosystem

Reconfigure to form a new ecosystem and transit from the marginal position in the old ecosystem to the core of the new one. Traditional ecosystem

Resource orchestration actions

Design Manufacturing Process

Mold making

Molds

ing on industrial design, was at the marginal place. As the customized age comes, the changes of the external environment have stimulated the enterprises to make changes, bringing opportunities for the enterprises featured by customized industrial designs to rise. After realizing the external change tendencies, Duch implemented resource orchestration actions, including acquiring external 3D printing technologies, accumulating internal design resources, divesting redundant links, etc. [24,26], to improve enterprise technical strength and match with the external environment, then completed the reconfiguring of the manufacturing process (refer to Fig. 2). Resource orchestration both equips Duch with customized manufacturing capacity (i.e., to design and shorten the manufacturing process) and provides foundation for subsequently orchestrating resources to reconfigure the industry chain [11]. 5.2 Integration phase: resource orchestration contributes to reconfigure the industry chain The enterprises need to extend their own businesses for rising from the marginal position to the core of the industry chain. The connectivity of digital technology enables many

Digital ecosystem Design

Acquiring, accumulating and divesting

Eight steps are needed from design to completed molds. The manufacturers will then produce according to the molds in large quantities. 

123

Expansion Phase

End products Realizing designs into end products in one stop, the acquired digital technology shortens the production process by 90% during which the manufacturers are not needed.

enterprises to connect their own businesses with external independent organizations or resources [38]. In order to solve the problems that the segments of the industry chain are separated from each other and the customer needs cannot be satisfied one-off, Duch, applying digital technologies such as 3D printing and the Internet, started to extend its business to the upstream and downstream industry chain. The 3D printing base enables Duch to transform customer designs into its own design resources through which Duch can help enterprises design and optimize products and cocreate product values with them [39]. The “Pursuing Dream Alliance” could integrate the resources of external designers into its own design platform, complementing Duch’s weakness of lacking design professionals and integrating online and offline sales. In a word, Duch, utilizing digital technologies, bundled the internal and external resources, both old and new, and also pioneered external potential design resources which were enabled internalization [11]. By doing so, Duch has enriched its platform resources, strengthened its core competitiveness [11], extended enterprise external relations [13] for supporting continued growth [40]. By implementing a series of resource orchestration actions, the enterprise recon-

Cluster Comput Fig. 3 Resource orchestration propels enterprises to reconfigure the industry chain

Clients

Sales

Integrate segments on the industry chain, delete unnecessary ones and shorten the period from design to end clients.

The segments on the industry chain are separated and it’s a long period from design to the end customers.

Traditional ecosystem

Design & manufacture

Pioneering and enriching

Material procurement

Clients

Sales

Manufacture

Storage

Product design

Material procurement

Industry Chain

Digital ecosystem

Resource orchestration actions

Traditional ecosystem

Resource orchestration actions

Digital ecosystem

Converting, pioneering and deploying

Ecosystem Boundary The traditional technologies are only related to the cUltural and creative industry and the industry of environment protection equipment.

Utilizing digital technologies, the enterprise can expand its business scope to other ecosystems, such as aeronautics and astronautics, auto spare parts, etc.

Fig. 4 Resource orchestration propels enterprises to reconfigure the ecosystem boundary

figured the industry chain (i.e., integrating and shortening the industry chain) (refer to Fig. 3), fostered new competitive advantage [41] and enhanced the control power of the ecosystem.

5.3 Expansion phase: resource orchestration contributes to reconfigure the ecosystem boundary The reconfiguring of the industry chain blurs the boundaries among enterprises. Instead of confining to the original businesses, enterprises should leverage and transform the existing resources and generate more comprehensive “solutions” to serve customers’ rising expectations [38] (and find new profit sources) [42]. Owing to the fact that industrial design is in itself transboundary, Duch’s traditional products are usually related to the cultural and creative industry and the industry of environmental protection equipment. Since the 3D printing technology plays a disruptive role in manufacturing technology and material development, Duch combined the existing craftsmanship with this printing technology. By doing so, Duch has met the demands of the aeronautic and astronautic and automobile enterprises, expanded the business scopes of its products and acquired new profit sources. Duch deployed and pioneered its business to more ecosystems [11] by converting its internal craftsmanship and combining it with 3D printing technology (refer to Fig. 4). This has both expanded the boundary of the new ecosystem (i.e., strengthening and expanding the ecosystem boundary)

to exert greater influence and strengthened its position as the core of the new ecosystem [43]. In summary, adhering to the “point-line-surface” principle, Duch has implemented resource orchestration actions on key resources such as digital technologies, to carry out three steps successively: “upgrade the vertical production process, reconfiguring the manufacturing process” to “achieve end-to-end connectivity, reconfiguring the industry chain” to “expand the horizontal business scope and reconfiguring the ecosystem boundaries”. This has changed the situation where the segments of traditional industry chains are separated and reconfigured a new ecosystem focusing on industrial design with an integrated vertical industry chain and expanded boundaries. Meanwhile, Duch has also risen from the marginal position in the old ecosystem to the core of the new one.

6 Conclusion 6.1 Theoretical and practical contributions This case study highlights implications for researchers and practitioners. For researchers, firstly, this case study has complemented the existing theories by opening the black box of how resource orchestration drives marginal enterprises to reconfigure the digital ecosystem. The existing studies of resource orchestration focus on its components [11] while not attaching enough importance to how resource orchestration

123

Cluster Comput

influences the dynamic evolution of enterprises. It is found by analyzing this case that the marginal enterprises cannot reconfigure the ecosystem except by orchestrating focal resources and different resource orchestration outcomes are displayed in different phases. Secondly, this research has built the model of how marginal enterprises reconfigure the ecosystem. Research on this question are in shortage [7,8], and this thesis will complement the ecosystem theories by building a model of how marginal enterprises reconfigure the ecosystem through the “point-line-system” principle. The point means manufacturing process which is the core of this digital ecosystem. This step of resource orchestration actions contain acquiring, accumulating and divesting. The line means industry chain which is shorten and integrated by the digital technology of the case company. This step of resource orchestration actions include pioneering and enriching. The surface means the ecosystem boundary which is strengthened and expanded by 3D printing technology of the case company. This step of resource orchestration actions involve converting, deploying and pioneering. This study also provides practical implications. The emerging digital technologies have brought both opportunities and challenges to traditional enterprises. If they cannot develop independently and extend their businesses to multiple industries, the marginal enterprises, affected by “non-independence”, cannot free themselves from being controlled by the core enterprises. The case study of Duch has opened the black box of how marginal enterprises reconfigure the ecosystem by resource orchestration, providing theoretical guidance for them about how to rise. The enterprises need to effectively orchestrate the key resources like digital technologies to hold a more important position in the ecosystem. 6.2 Limitation This research casts light on how marginal enterprises reconfigure the ecosystem from the perspective of resource orchestration and also puts forward some conclusions of both theoretical and practical values. But it also has some shortcomings. The research objectives are traditional and mature enterprises. They have adequate R&D resources and craftsmanship which will help them solve the problems in reconfiguring the ecosystem. But for the small-scale emerging enterprises, while building or reconfiguring the ecosystem, are the conclusions of this research still applicable? So we will further collect and analyze enterprise cases of other kinds and reveal the reconfiguring process and mechanism of Chinese enterprises in a systematic manner. Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China (71172176, 71472012, 71529001, 71632003), the Ministry of Education of Humanities and Social Science

123

Project (14YJA630045), the Planning Project of Beijing Philosophy and Social Sciences (15JGB119) for supporting this work.

References 1. Luo, M., Li, L.: The age of the internet business model innovation: value creation perspective. China Ind. Econ. 57(1), 95–107 (2015) 2. Adner, R., Kapoor, R.: Innovation ecosystems and the pace of substitution: re-examining technology S-curves. Strateg. Manag. J. 3, 1–24 (2015) 3. Selander, L., Henfridsson, O., Svahn, F.: Capability search and redeem across digital ecosystems. J. Inf. Technol. 28(3), 183–197 (2013) 4. Christensen, C.M., Bower, J.L.: Customer power, strategic investment, and the failure of leading firms. Strateg. Manag. J. 17, 197–218 (1996) 5. Liu, L., Tan, C., Jiang, S., Lei, H.: Li Feng’s process of platform leadership achievement: a resource dependence perspective. China Ind. Econ. 1, 134–146 (2015) 6. Wareham, J., Fox, P.B., Cano Giner, J.: Technology ecosystem governance. Organ. Sci. 25(4), 1195–1215 (2014) 7. Yoo, Y., Henfridsson, O., Lyytinen, K.: Research commentary—the new organizing logic of digital innovation: an agenda for information systems research. Inf. Syst. Res. 21(4), 724–735 (2010) 8. Thomas, L.D.W., Autio, E.: Modeling the Ecosystem: A Metasynthesis of Ecosystem and Related Literatures. DRUID, Copenhagen (2012) 9. Teece, D.J.: Explicating dynamic capabilities: the nature and microfoundations of (sustainable) enterprise performance. Strateg. Manag. J. 28(13), 1319–1350 (2007) 10. Perrigot, R., Pénard, T.: Determinants of E-commerce strategy in franchising: a resource-based view. Int. J. Electron. Commer. 17(3), 109–130 (2013) 11. Sirmon, D.G., Hitt, M.A., Ireland, R.D., et al.: Resource orchestration to create competitive advantage breadth, depth, and life cycle effects. J. Manag. 37(5), 1390–1412 (2011) 12. Adner, R., Kapoor, R.: Value creation in innovation ecosystems: how the structure of technological interdependence affects firm performance in new technology generations. Strateg. Manag. J. 31(3), 306–333 (2010) 13. Gawer, A., Cusumano, M.A.: Platform Leadership: How Intel, Microsoft, and Cisco Drive Industry Innovation. Harvard Business School Press, Boston (2002) 14. Moore, J.F.: Predators and prey: a new ecology of competition. Harv. Bus. Rev. 71(3), 75–83 (1993) 15. Tan, B., Pan, S.L., Lu, X., Huang, L.: Leveraging digital business ecosystems for enterprise agility: the tri-logic development strategy of Alibaba.com. In: ICIS 2009 Proceedings, 171 (2009) 16. Yamakami, T.: 2010 13th International Conference on a Mobile Digital Ecosystem Framework: Lessons from the Evolution of Mobile Data Services, pp. 516–520. IEEE (2010) 17. Koshutanski, H., Ion, M., Telesca, L.: The International Conference on Distributed Identity Management Model for Digital Ecosystems, pp. 132–138. IEEE (2007) 18. Iansiti, M., Levien, R.: The keystone advantage: what the new dynamics of business ecosystems mean for strategy, innovation, and sustainability. Pers. Psychol. 20(2), 88–90 (2004) 19. Iansiti, M., Levien, R.: Strategy as ecology. Harv. Bus. Rev. 82(3), 68–81 (2004) 20. Tiwana, A., Konsynski, B., Bush, A.A.: Research commentary— platform evolution: coevolution of platform architecture, governance, and environmental dynamics. Inf. Syst. Res. 21(4), 675–687 (2010)

Cluster Comput 21. Ghazawneh, A., Henfridsson, O.: Balancing platform control and external contribution in third-party development: the boundary resources model. Inf. Syst. J. 23(2), 173–192 (2013) 22. Wright, M., Marlow, S.: Entrepreneurial activity in the venture creation and development process. Int. Small Bus. J. 30(2), 107– 114 (2012) 23. Kor, Y.Y., Mahoney, J.T., Michael, S.C.: Resources, capabilities and entrepreneurial perceptions. J. Manag. Stud. 44(7), 1187–1212 (2007) 24. Cui, M., Pan, S.L.: Developing focal capabilities for E-commerce adoption: a resource orchestration perspective. Inf. Manag. 52(2), 200–209 (2014) 25. Bridoux, F., Smith, K.G., Grimm, C.M.: The management of resources temporal effects of different types of actions on performance. J. Manag. 39(4), 928–957 (2013) 26. Sirmon, D.G., Gove, S., Hitt, M.A.: Resource management in dyadic competitive rivalry: the effects of resource bundling and deployment. Acad. Manag. J. 51(5), 919–935 (2008) 27. Yin, R.K.: Case Study Research: Design and Methods. Sage Publications, London (2013) 28. Ouyang, T.: Case study method in the field of business administration. Nankai Bus. Rev.: Tianjin, China 7(2), 100–105 (2004) 29. Patton, M.Q.: How to Use Qualitative Methods in Evaluation. Sage, Newbury Park (1987) 30. Glaser, B.G., Strauss, A.L.: The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research. Transaction Publishers, Chicago (2009) 31. Evered, R., Louis, M.R.: Alternative perspectives in the organizational sciences: “inquiry from the inside” and “inquiry from the outside”. Acad. Manag. Rev. 6(3), 385–395 (1981) 32. Miles, M.B., Huberman, A.M.: Drawing valid meaning from qualitative data: toward a shared craft. Educ. Res. 13(5), 20–30 (1984) 33. Eisenhardt, K.M.: Building theories from case study research. Acad. Manag. Rev. 14(4), 532–550 (1989) 34. Walsham, G.: Doing interpretive research. Eur. J. Inf. Syst. 15(3), 320–330 (2006) 35. Corbin, J., Strauss, A.: Basics of Qualitative Research: Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks (2014) 36. Eisenhardt, K.M., Graebner, M.E.: Theory building from cases: opportunities and challenges. Acad. Manag. J. 50(1), 25 (2007) 37. Pan, S.L., Tan, B.: Demystifying case research: a structuredpragmatic-situational (SPS) approach to conducting case studies. Inf. Organ. 21(3), 161–176 (2011) 38. Eamonn, K.: Blurring Boundaries, Uncharted Frontiers, pp. 17–28. Deloitte University Press (2015) 39. Nambisan, S., Baron, R.A.: Interactions in virtual customer environments: implications for product support and customer relationship management. J. Interact. Mark. 21(2), 42–62 (2007) 40. Jawahar, I.M., McLaughlin, G.L.: Toward a descriptive stakeholder theory: an organizational life cycle approach. Acad. Manag. Rev. 26, 397–414 (2001)

41. Sirmon, D.G., Hitt, M.A., Arregle, J.-L., Campbell, J.T.: Capability strengths and weaknesses in dynamic markets: investigating the bases of temporary competitive advantage. Strateg. Manag. J. 31(13), 1386–1409 (2010) 42. Agarwal, R., Gort, M.: Products and firm life cycles and firm survival. Am. Econ. Rev. 92, 184–190 (2002) 43. Smith, K.G., Mitchell, T.R., Summer, C.E.: Top level management priorities in different stages of the organizational life cycle. Acad. Manag. J. 28, 799–820 (1985)

Zhengyan Cui is a PhD Candidate of the School of Economics and Management, Beihang University, Beijing, China. Her research interests include enterprise strategic management, digital enabled organizational change and ecosystem innovation. She has published three papers and has completed three working papers.

Taohua-Ouyang received the PhD Degree from Kobe University, Hyogo, Japan, in 2002. She is a Professor in the School of Economics and Management, Beihang University, Beijing, China. Her research interests include enterprise strategic management, product innovation, organizational change, ecosystem innovation.

123