Ecosystem Advantage: How to Successfully Harness the Power of Partners

Author

Peter James WILLIAMSON, University of Cambridge
Arnoud DE MEYER, Singapore Management UniversityFollow

Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

10-2012

Abstract

Changes in the global environment are generating opportunities for companies to build advantage by creating loosely coupled networks or ecosystems. Ecosystems are larger, more diverse, and more fluid than a traditional set of bilateral partnerships or complementors. By leveraging ecosystems, companies can deliver complex solutions while maintaining corporate focus. This article describes six keys to unlock ecosystem advantage: pinpointing where value is created, defining an architecture of differentiated partner roles, stimulating complementary partner investments, reducing the transaction costs, facilitating joint learning across the network, and engineering effective ways to capture profit.

Keywords

networks, value creation, organizational structure

Discipline

Operations and Supply Chain Management | Strategic Management Policy | Technology and Innovation

Research Areas

Operations Management

Publication

California Management Review

Volume

55

Issue

1

First Page

24

Last Page

46

ISSN

0008-1256

Identifier

10.1525/cmr.2012.55.1.24

Publisher

University of California Press

Citation

WILLIAMSON, Peter James and DE MEYER, Arnoud. Ecosystem Advantage: How to Successfully Harness the Power of Partners. (2012). California Management Review. 55, (1), 24-46.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/3519

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1525/cmr.2012.55.1.24