Abstract The objective of this dissertation is to identify how to make business ecosystem formation more efficient and how to evaluate ecosystem success capabilities. Business ecosystem formation consists of transition of a front-end phase ecosystem into an operational ecosystem. How the formation takes place and how it can be governed is approached through five formation elements: dynamics, strategy, governance, behaviour and evolution. The elements are defined based on literature review as the dissertation body of knowledge. Through inductive case studies and defined body of knowledge this dissertation presents as a synthesis a multidimensional model to support healthy business ecosystem formation. The model describes how ecosystem formation should be driven by key end customer requirements and how those contribute to ecosystem planning. Based on the key end customers it is possible to define initial joint value proposals and core service providers. This dissertation introduces roles of anchoring and moderator actors to business ecosystem discussion as actors leading the ecosystem formation and maintaining the ecosystem structure through strong relationships. The dissertation proposes conceptual models to assess ecosystem health and stakeholder’ salience. Ecosystem health can be assessed with sustainability, resilience, innovativeness and renewal capabilities. Importance of actors and their impact probability can be identified with salience assessment. Both assessment models enable ecosystem planners to monitor the formation progress and to focus governance activities. This dissertation is qualitative and inductive based on literature review and conducting empirical case studies in multiple business ecosystem type of environments in Finland and Taiwan. The dissertation consists of five academic publications and synthetization of them into this compilation book. The principal results of this dissertation include more detailed insights to support business ecosystem definition and scoping. Ecosystem formation expands the earlier contributions on business ecosystem evolution. Roles of anchoring and moderator actors complement the ecosystem roles enhancing planning. The assessment models provide for both practitioners and academics framework for evaluating ecosystem status. / Tiivistelmä Tämän väitöskirjan tavoitteena on tunnistaa kuinka liiketoimintaekosysteemin muodostumista voidaan tehostaa ja kuinka ekosysteemin kestävyyttä voidaan arvioida. Liiketoimintaekosysteemin muodostuminen käsittelee alkuvaiheen ekosysteemin muutosta toiminnalliseksi ekosysteemiksi. Ekosysteemin muodostumista ja muodostumisen hallinnointia käsitellään viidessä elementissä: dynamiikan, strategian, käyttäytymisen sekä evoluution kautta. Kirjallisuusperustaiset elementit muodostavat väitöskirjan tutkimusperustan. Induktiivisten tapaustutkimusten sekä tutkimusperustan pohjalta väitöskirja syntetisoi mallin joka tukee kestävän liiketoimintaekosysteemin muodostumista. Malli kuvaa kuinka muodostumisen tulee perustua valikoitujen loppuasiakkaiden vaatimuksiin ja kuinka nämä vaatimukset vaikuttavat ekosysteemin suunnitteluun. Loppuasiakkaiden perusteella määritetään ekosysteemin alustavat yhteiset arvoehdotukset sekä avainpalveluntarjoajat. Väitöskirja lisää ankkuri- ja moderaattoritoimijoiden roolit liiketoimintaekosysteemiä käsittelevään keskusteluun toimijoina, jotka edistävät ekosysteemin muodostumista ja ylläpitävät ekosysteemiä vahvojen suhteiden kautta. Väitöskirja esittää konseptuaaliset mallit ekosysteemin kestävyyden ja sidosryhmien merkittävyyden arviointiin. Ekosysteemin kestävyyttä arvioidaan jatkuvuuden, joustavuuden, innovatiivisuuden sekä uudistumiskyvyn kautta. Toimijoiden vaikutusvaltaa ja vaikutustodennäköisyyttä arvioidaan merkittävyysarvioinnilla. Ekosysteemin suunnittelutahot voivat hyödyntää malleja muodostumisen seurantaan sekä hallinnollisten toimien keskittämiseen. Väitöskirjatutkimus on kvalitatiivien ja induktiivinen perustuen kirjallisuuskatsaukseen sekä soveltuviin tapaustutkimuksiin Suomessa ja Taiwanissa. Väitöskirja koostuu viidestä tutkimusartikkelista ja niiden synteesinä laaditusta kirjasta. Väitöskirjan päätulokset sisältävät yksityiskohtaisia löydöksiä tukemaan ekosysteemin määrittämistä ja rajaamista. Ekosysteemin muodostuminen laajentaa aiempia tutkimustuloksia ekosysteemin evoluutiosta. Ankkuri- ja moderaattoritoimijoiden roolit täydentävät ekosysteemi roolivalikoimaa ja tukevat suunnittelua. Arviointimallit tarjoavat lähtökohdat sekä akateemiseen, että käytännölliseen liiketoimintaekosysteemin tilan arviontiin.

Background: Despite the obvious attraction for “greener” solutions in all industries, the different sustainable measures adopted by governments, business associations, andbusinesses themselves, the remaining high number of landfilled solid wastes from allindustries per year, especially the construction industry, suggests that a waste managementtowards valorisation is not systematically the first chosen option for the firms collecting the wastes. Purpose: To increase awareness, develop knowledge and show how collaboration within abusiness ecosystem and adapted corporate strategy allows the development of sustainablewaste management. Methodology: A comparative case study on the waste valorisation and innovation creationprocess, approached throughout a semi-structured qualitative data collection of fivepractitioners within a similar business ecosystem. Findings: The findings indicate that mutli-strategy level collaboration within and betweenbusiness ecosystems is a nursery for the development of innovation in the context of waste valorisation.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(経済学) / 甲第18760号 / 経博第511号 / 新制||経||273(附属図書館) / 31711 / 京都大学大学院経済学研究科経済学専攻 / (主査)教授 椙山 泰生, 教授 日置 弘一郎, 教授 武石 彰 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Economics / Kyoto University / DGAM

Trends in the surrounding society have made companies more interdependent and increased the number of actors in value chains, emphasizing the importance of business ecosystems. This is especially relevant for the hydrogen gas-based mobility ecosystem, as it presents novel opportunities for delivering solutions in relatively uncharted territory. This study therefore examines how solution-oriented business models apply in the context of hydrogen gas-based mobility solutions. By identifying key actors within the business ecosystem, a better understanding of key activities and success factors can be established and used for understanding the proper governance configuration that maximizes shared value creation in the ecosystem. An abductive approach with a methodological choice of qualitative research through a case study was applied in this study. The case study was conducted at the Scania Pilot Partner division at Scania and investigated the hydrogen gas-based mobility ecosystem with Scania as the focal firm. The case study consisted of 12 interviews, of which five were conducted with employees at Scania and seven with various actors in the business ecosystem. The theoretical and empirical findings suggest that energy suppliers, authorities, customers, and an ecosystem leader are key actors for hydrogen gas-based mobility solutions. Furthermore, the usage of a business model framework, being flexible, integrating customers, having proper knowledge management, and enabling a single touchpoint seem to be important elements to include. It is also indicated that risk sharing, joint venture, dedicated sales and service companies as well as incentives, trust, and transparency are beneficial governance mechanisms. Companies should also consider ownership structure, but the analysis is inconclusive on how much of a value chain should be owned by the focal firm. Based on the results, five recommendations are made to companies looking to deliver hydrogen gas-based mobility solutions: (1) establish a joint venture with key actors, (2) establish a single touchpoint for customers through dedicated sales and service companies, (3) set up processes for both internal and external knowledge management and knowledge sharing, (4) engage and align incentives with authorities early, and (5) take a leadership position in the ecosystem if the resources necessary for such a commitment are available.

This thesis focus lies on the topic of business ecosystems and their use for digital firms in their internationalisation. The aim is to investigate the value creation and capture process for digital firms through the perspective of business ecosystems. For this endeavour, different concepts such as the born digital theory, key interlinked internationalisation process theories and business ecosystems theory are described throughout the literature review. Other models of previous researchers are used as a foundation to render an own created framework that is more applicable to the scenario and combination of the three aspects this paper investigates. The knowledge gap defined by the authors is about adding new insights on the ecosystem perspective in international businesses by exploring the value creation and capture process of born digitals. Furthermore, it will display the bottlenecks and benefits deriving from a business ecosystem. This leads to the research questions investigating the utilisation of business ecosystems for value creation and capture in internationalisation of digital firms, as well as the bottlenecks and benefits that come with it. For the empirical data collection to receive insights on the research questions and successfully draw conclusions, semi-structured interviews were conducted within the scope of a multiple case study. In addition, secondary data from various authors and experts in the respective research areas were used to bedrock the findings.As the results of the study showed, business ecosystems are greatly appreciated and utilised by digital firms. Moreover, they create value for them and let them strive in many ways, such as focusing on their core business, to succeed and be able to enter new markets. This is only possible with the cooperation of the various actors in the business ecosystem. Nevertheless, there are also severe bottlenecks that have been brought to light that reach beyond what has been present in the literature and considered by other scholars, as well as benefits that keep them competitive. Furthermore, this study provides managerial implications on how to deal with the liability of outsidership and smallness, and for the policy implications, that policymakers should be aware of global and political issues, and their impact on businesses.

Background  AI adoption is increasing, and the highest increase of AI is seen in service functions, followed by product applications. Moreover, the patent filing is rapidly increasing showing high interest in the technology. Product-based firms developing AI technology may need to develop their business model as a result of the introduction of AI. Research aim This thesis aims to explore how product-oriented companies innovate the business model based on AI development. More specifically, how these technological opportunities can, create value, deliver value, and capture value as a result.    Method This thesis follows a qualitative strategy, mainly being explorative. The thesis follows a single case study approach of Axis Communications. Data collection was mainly conducted with semi-structured interviews. Findings The value creation of AI development is described based on functions and the value-added. The value delivery explores key capabilities of the data pipeline, algorithm development and partners. The value capture described the sales model and compares AI-related solutions with competitors. Conclusions The study concludes that AI-based solutions can be an attributing factor for a product-based company to innovate the business model towards a more service and partner-oriented business model. Keywords: Artificial intelligence, Internet of things, Digital servitization, Business model innovation, Business ecosystem

The constant change in today's business environment has brought about the need for S.M.E.s to contend with more dynamic, complicated, and global business environments, making it hard to maintain competitiveness. It is broadly acknowledged that SMEs face comparable constraints, such as limited human, financial, and informational resources. With the rising global freedom of industrial and commercial operations, the Internationalization of business affects both big and small companies as firms' performance depends on the participation of other role players and internal and external considerations. The importance of the parent-subsidiary company relationship that was so prevalent in the past has dissipated, giving way to more flexible contractual arrangements formulae that enable more effective utilization of competitive advantages in changing circumstances. In this context, the term "business ecosystem" is commonly employed. Therefore, this study examines if the business ecosystem adoption is a feasible strategy for S.M.E.s growth and internationalization. Also, the study examined the business ecosystem from the viewpoint of co-opetition and network theories. The research made use of a qualitative case study of S.M.E.s in Nigeria's Lagos state with the aid of thematic analysis for data interpretation and analysis. The data was collected from six executives of thriving businesses involved in collaborative business activities and international presence by conducting semi-structured interviews. The findings suggest that the business ecosystem approach is feasible for the internationalization and growth of S.M.E.s and necessitate collaborations with other firms (complementors and competitors). The link to internationalization is created via networks and co-opetition, which emphasize relationship building in a disruptive corporate environment. It further emphasizes the importance of networking for information gathering, relationship building, and value co-creation in the business ecosystem context. The study contributes to theory by explaining how the theories of business ecosystem and internationalization are inextricably linked. Also, the implementation of the business ecosystem will grant SMEs the access to resources needed to grow and improve business activities for sustainability and market information (local & international) through networking and collaboration.

Problem Discussion: In the Swedish context, 74 per cent of transports are within regional borders, meaning that transportation departed in a specific region seldom leaves the region it departed from. This condition makes it possible to transition many trucks in the Swedish transportation fleet to electric. It was found that the increasing interest in transitioning to the electrification of transportation, as well as the choice of technology, reflects the need for transportation actors to make a decision regarding which type of electrification technology to implement into their operations. Purpose: The aim of the study is to explore the connection between the choice of different electrification technologies and the transportation actors' business models for different local and regional heavy truck applications in Sweden. Methodology: A qualitative case study was selected with an abductive approach. The data collection was performed by semi-structured interviews with both transporters, who operate the vehicles, and with their surrounding system actors. The analysis method that was used was thematic analysis. Analysis: From the collected data, some influential aspects were found to have an impact on the choices of technology and/or business model components. These were further explored and analyzed in relation to the respective technology and the transporters' business models to derive connecting factors as findings. Findings and Conclusion: In total, five connecting factors were derived. These were the baseline/investment cost of complements, flexibility, load capacity and range, new ownership models, and closeness of partners. The flexibility factor offered an additional interpretation of the theoretical perspective on alignment structures by bundling customers to ensure the deliverability of the proposed value. The connecting factors were found to have a small but not substantial difference in effect between the applications of regional-, construction-, and waste collecting transports.

時序邁入二十一世紀，隨著科技與技術的日新月異，市場環境與消費者需求更加瞬息萬變，企業如何在追求自我成長的同時，迅速回應外在環境的快速變化，不被淘汰，是現今企業面對的最大課題，亦是學術界與實務界向來熱衷討論的命題。James F. Moore最早提出「商業生態系統」的概念，建議以商業生態系統取代產業，打破過去產業的界線，認為若要成功回應環境與顧客需求，已不再只是依賴單一組織與單一產業，而需透過跨領域的協同合作來完成。 本研究以電子商務為主體結合商業生態系統概念，透過個案研究法分析個別企業參與商業生態系統所扮演的角色。最後，本研究提出以下結論：個別企業參與者在商業生態系統中的各生命週期發展階段可能經歷角色轉變；個別企業參與者在原生商業生態系統可逐步打造以自身為主體的商業生態次系統並對原生商業生態主系統產生影響。

Les biotechnologies mobilisées aujourd'hui dans les bioindustries requièrent des compétences qu'une entreprise ne peut plus maîtriser seule. L'aboutissement d'innovations disruptives implique une approche pluridisciplinaire nécessitant l'intervention de plusieurs secteurs industriels ce qui s'oppose à une logique d'innovation propriétaire. La transversalité nécessaire à ces rapprochements entre entreprises privées et secteurs public et ou entre industries issues de secteurs d'activités différents modifie profondément la nature des modèles d'organisation. Parmi l'ensemble des modèles adoptés, celui des écosystèmes d'affaires (EA) occupe une place de plus en plus centrale dans les bioindustries. L'optimisation des logiques d'innovation associées est devenue un enjeu auquel même les institutions tentent de répondre en soutenant l'adoption de logiques d'innovation ouverte (IO) et le développement d'EA. Pourtant la nature de ces deux notions restent discutées et leur combinaison théorique mal comprise. Bien que les études de cas montrent que les EA appuient leur développement sur l'IO dans les domaines dont le développement repose sur la connaissance, la nature et la séquence de mise en œuvre des concepts mobilisés restent à déterminer. De plus, le débat demeure concernant la nature ontologique et les limites épistémologiques des notions d'IO et d'EA. Cette thèse s'efforce de préciser ces éléments puis elle détermine quel rôle est joué par l'IO dans l'émergence des EA dans les bioindustries françaises.L'analyse ontologique de la notion d'EA révèle la valeur purement métaphorique des transpositions effectuées par Moore depuis l'écologie pour en établir la définition. Par conséquent, l'approche analogique adoptée par une partie des scientifiques ne peut être retenue pour établir les limites épistémologiques de la notion d'EA. La nature ontologique de la notion d'IO reste incertaine. Nature des flux d'informations inter-organisationnels et capacités dynamiques des firmes sont conjointement mobilisés. Cette incertitude n'étant pas permissive à la réalisation d'une analyse épistémologique, les capacités dynamiques sont ici choisies comme fondement théorique de l'IO. L'analyse épistémologique de la notion d'EA démontre l'application d'une boucle récursive dans sa construction. De plus, elle révèle l'existence d'une théorie substantive derrière la notion d'EA, théorie mobilisant une séquence de concepts mise en œuvre successivement dans l'émergence des EA. L'IO étant l'une des notions mobilisées.La posture épistémologique adoptée dans cette thèse est celle du réalisme critique. Elle permet la prise en compte de la boucle récursive, est adaptée à l'approche par les théories ancrées, et intègre les circonstances intrinsèques et extrinsèques justifiant la manière dont les mécanismes générateurs sont activés. Elle autorise la formulation d'hypothèses fondatrices d'ordre ontologique. Ce choix permet de conserver la posture épistémologique séminale implicite de Moore, de légitimer la valeur de sa démarche ancrée, d'assumer l'hypothèse ontologique formulée à propos des fondements de l'IO, et de tenir compte des facteurs tant environnementaux qu'organisationnels justifiant de l'émergence des EA. La méthodologie d'analyse qui en découle est qualitative. Elle passe par une comparaison de deux études de cas réalisées sur la base d'analyses de données secondaires. Les facteurs contextuels de chaque cas sont corrélés afin de dévoiler les mécanismes générateurs justifiant du rôle de l'IO dans l'émergence des EA.Les résultats confirment la séquence de mise en œuvre des concepts proposés par Moore dans l'émergence des EA pour les bioindustries françaises. Ils précisent la place de l'IO dans cette séquence en spécifiant son rôle dans le passage de la collaboration à la coévolution des firmes au sein de l'EA. Ils confirment que l'EA ne constitue pas un modèle d'organisation en soi mais une posture inter-firmes favorisant l'adoption de modèles adaptés. / Biotechnologies mobilized today in bio-industries require skills that companies can no longer control alone. The development of disruptive innovations involves a multidisciplinary approach requiring the intervention of several industrial sectors that is opposed to proprietary innovation logic. Transversality necessary for these collaborations between private companies and public sectors and or between industries from different business sectors profoundly changes the nature of organizational models chosen by firms. Among all the models adopted, the business ecosystem (BE) occupies a more and more central place in bio-industries. The optimization of the associated logical innovation has become a challenge that even the institutions are trying to respond by supporting the adoption of open innovation logics (OI) and the development of BE. Yet, the nature of these two notions is still discussed and there theoretical combination remains poorly understood. Although case studies show that BE support their development on OI in knowledge based industries, nature and implementation sequence of underlying concepts remain to be determined. Moreover, the debate remains regarding the ontological and epistemological limits of OI and BE notions. This thesis seeks to clarify these elements and determines what role is played by the OI in the emergence of BE in the French bio-industries.The ontological analysis of BE notion reveals the purely metaphorical transpositions made by Moore from ecology to establish its definition. Therefore, the analogical approach supported by a part of the scientific community can't be applied to establish the epistemological limits of BE notion. The ontological nature of OI notion remains uncertain. Nature of inter-organizational information flows and dynamic capabilities of firms are jointly mobilized. This uncertainty is not permissive to the achievement of an epistemological analysis, therefore dynamic capacities here were chosen as theoretical foundations of the OI notion. The epistemological analysis of the development of BE notion demonstrates the application of a recursive loop in its construction. Moreover, it reveals the existence of a substantive theory behind the BE notion, theory which mobilizes a sequence of concepts implemented successively in the emergence of BE. The OI is one of mobilized notions.The epistemological posture adopted in this thesis is that of critical realism. It allows the inclusion of the recursive loop. It is suitable for the approach by grounded theories. It integrates intrinsic and extrinsic circumstances justifying how generating mechanisms are activated. It allows the formulation of founding ontological assumptions. This choice preserves Moore's implicit epistemological posture, legitimizes the value of its grounded approach, assumes the ontological assumption made about the foundations of OI notion, and takes into account both environmental and organizational factors justifying the emergence of BE. The resulting methodology is qualitative. It goes through a comparison of two case studies based on secondary data analysis. Contextual factors of each case are correlated to reveal the generative mechanisms justifying the role of OI in the emergence of BE.The results confirm the implementation sequence of concepts proposed by Moore in the emergence of BE in the French bio-industries. They precise the place of OI in this sequence by specifying its role in the transition from collaboration to co-evolution of firms within BE. They confirm that BE is not an organizational model in itself, but an inter-organizational stance promoting the adoption of appropriate models.