Facilitating innovation in an ecosystem :an exploratory case study

2019

This study has examined the research question; In what way can the establishment of an

ecosystem facilitate innovation in the construction and real estate industry? by conducting an

exploratory case study of a recently established ecosystem. Eight informants from six firms

have been interviewed, where half of the informants represent the company that initiated the

ecosystem.

The current literature on ecosystems have been reviewed and applied to discuss the findings of

this thesis. Supplementing the ecosystem research with knowledge on network resources

allowed for additional understanding of the findings. The literature on ecosystems have seen

increasing levels of interest in the past few years, and research on its dynamics and elements

have resulted in varied approaches (Jacobides et al., 2018; Bogers et al., 2019).

The findings of this study reveal that the ecosystem was established as a result of pressure from

macro forces, which are especially connected to new technological advances. The need for

collaboration across firm and industry boundaries, flexible memberships, international

ambitions and regional benefits in the form of competences on ecosystems, affected the choice

of the ecosystem solution.

The ecosystem facilitates for innovation based on three main findings. The combination of

arranging activities that are both flexible and more focused are important for the members

ability to innovate within the ecosystem. The ecosystem allows for the possibility of sharing

resources such as data, which provides large innovation opportunities. It provides advantages

related to a holistic value chain approach and interdisciplinarity that can facilitate innovation

on several parts of the value chain. In order to successfully facilitate for innovation as the

ecosystem evolves, the findings revealed that focusing on communicating the larger goal of the

ecosystem, changes to the leadership role and establishing trust between members will be

crucial in the future.