Table Of ContentThe term eco-system has over the last few years migrated from the world
of environmental sciences to the world of manufacturing and industry.
This is a rather strange journey and has been a source of concern amongst
some scientists, engineers and business scholars, lacking as it does clear
and precise definitions.
The advantages of an eco-system approach however are substantial,
reflecting as it does the complexity and diversity of modern industrial
systems. It is no longer sufficient to talk about subcontracting or even
supply chains as it is now clear that many of the actors involved in
bringing products to market may reside in different companies, different
industries and indeed different countries. Capturing this complexity
and the dynamic nature of modern industrial systems is vital if we are
to understand how they work and how they might develop. This book
is a timely and comprehensive attempt to put more structure into the
discourse around business eco-systems. The authors have provided a
good blend of theoretical development illustrated by practical examples
of modern business eco-systems. Students, scholars and practitioners
will find much here to interest them. – Professor Sir Mike Gregory, Institute
for Manufacturing, University of Cambridge.
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Business Ecosystems
Constructs, Configurations, and the
Nurturing Process
Ke R ong
Bournemouth University, UK
and
Yongjiang Shi
University of Cambridge, UK
© Ke Rong and Yongjiang Shi 2015
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2015 978-1-137-40590-6
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this
publication may be made without written permission.
No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted
save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence
permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency,
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Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication
may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
the authors have asserted their rights to be identified as the authors of this work
in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2015 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke,
Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries
ISBN 978-1-349-48782-0 ISBN 978-1-137-40592-0 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9781137405920
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully
managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing
processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the
country of origin.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rong, Ke, 1984–
Business ecosystems : constructs, configurations, and the nurturing process /
Ke Rong, Yongjiang Shi.
pages cm
1. Industrial management. 2. System analysis. 3. Business planning. 4. New
products. I. Shi, Yongjiang. II. Title.
HD31.R654 2014
658—dc23 2014025131
Contents
List of Figures ix
List of Tables xi
Acknowledgements xiii
List of Abbreviations xiv
1 I ntroduction 1
1.1 New industry frontier: from supply chains
towards business ecosystems 1
1.2 Business ecosystems: from a fantastic metaphor
to scientific understanding 4
1.3 Aims and characteristics of the book: explorations
of the system and methodology 5
1 .4 Structure of the book chapters: a research journey 6
Part I Background Exploration of Business
Ecosystem 9
2 Industrial Challenges 11
2.1 I ntroduction 11
2.2 Industry background review 11
2.3 T he mobile computing industry brief review 15
2.4 Exploratory case studies: key players in the mobile
computing industry 2 1
2.5 Key industrial challenges: uncertainty 2 8
2.6 Key industrial challenges: interoperability 3 1
2.7 Conclusion 33
3 L iterature Review 34
3.1 Introduction 34
3 .2 Manufacturing system theories of industrial
challenges 34
3 .3 Review of business ecosystem theories 45
v
vi Contents
3.4 I dentification of theoretical and practical gaps in
the business ecosystem literature 72
3 .5 Conclusion 75
4 R esearch Design 76
4.1 I ntroduction 76
4.2 Research framework and objectives 7 6
4.3 Overview of research methodology 8 0
4.4 C onclusion 90
Part II C ase Observation of Business Ecosystems 9 1
5 ARM Nurtures the Business Ecosystem from the
Beginning 9 3
5 .1 Introduction 93
5.2 Project 1a: mobile phone (ARM7 and ARM9) 96
5.3 Project 1b: Leader Partners’ Strategy (LPS) for new
product development 9 9
5.4 Project 1c: ARM IP categorisation 1 04
5.5 ARM’s evaluation and its business ecosystem
development 105
6 I ntel Re-Enters the Mobile Computing Business Ecosystem 1 09
6.1 I ntroduction 109
6.2 Project 2a: the PC industry 110
6.3 Project 2b: Xscale 114
6.4 Project 2c: Atom-based 1 15
6.5 Intel’s evaluation and its business ecosystem
development 120
7 M TK Enhances the Business Ecosystem Efficiency 123
7.1 Introduction 123
7 .2 P roject 3a: VCD and DVD market 125
7 .3 Project 3b: Mobile 2G 1 28
7.4 Project 3c: Smartphone 1 31
7.5 MTK’s evaluation and its business ecosystem
development 134
Part III Theory Construction of Business Ecosystems 135
8 The Business Ecosystem Life Cycle and Its Phase-Ending
Status 137
8 .1 Five phases, identification 137
Contents vii
8.2 Phase-ending status 139
8.3 Discussion of life-cycle study 1 41
8.4 Conclusion 143
9 Business Ecosystem Constructive Elements 144
9.1 Introduction 144
9.2 Data analysis 145
9.3 Constructive elements by phase 146
9.4 General constructive elements of a business
ecosystem 1 57
9.5 The natural metaphor 169
9.6 Discussion on constructs study 171
9.7 Conclusion 174
10 Business Ecosystem Configuration Pattern 175
10.1 I ntroduction 175
10.2 Dimensions for identifying ecosystem pattern 176
10.3 C onfiguration pattern identification 178
1 0.4 Configuration pattern evolution along business
ecosystem life cycle 186
1 0.5 G eneral path of ecosystem pattern evolution 1 88
1 0.6 Discussion on configuration pattern study 191
10.7 Conclusion 193
11 Business Ecosystem Nurturing Process 195
11.1 I ntroduction 195
11.2 Three cases’ typical nurturing process analysis 197
11.3 G eneral nurturing process along the business
ecosystem life cycle 207
1 1.4 N urturing process for industrial practice 216
11.5 D iscussion of the nurturing process 220
11.6 T he key constructive elements during the
nurturing process 221
11.7 Conclusion 222
12 Conclusion and Discussion 224
1 2.1 R esearch findings 224
12.2 Implication to theory 231
12.3 I mplication to research methodology 2 31
12.4 I mplication to practice 2 34
12.5 R esearch limitation 2 37
12.6 F uture research opportunities 2 39
viii Contents
Appendix 241
Notes 246
References 248
Index 257
List of Figures
1.1 Section and chapter structure of the book 7
2.1 Semiconductor supply chain 1 2
2.2 Roadmap of semiconductor industry 1 3
2.3 Two architecture choices for chip design 1 5
2.4 The convergence trend in the mobile computing
industry 16
2.5 Key players in the mobile computing industry 1 9
2.6 Exploratory cases’ position in a typical mobile
computing supply chain 2 1
3.1 The relevant theories to business ecosystem 3 5
3.2 GMVN life cycle 41
3.3 Conclusion of literature review 44
3.4 The whole picture of a business ecosystem 46
3.5 Road map of business ecosystem literature since 1993 68
3.6 Research gaps of business ecosystem 7 4
4.1 R esearch process framework 78
4 .2 Conceptual framework of the business ecosystem 8 0
4.3 Data collection protocol 8 6
4.4 Overview of procedure 8 9
5.1 ARM’s nurturing process of their business ecosystem 9 7
5.2 ARM’s first mobile project with NOKIA and TI 9 8
5.3 ARM’s leader partner strategy for new product
development 100
5.4 ARM’s offer for industrial concerns 1 02
5.5 ST Micro-controller unit road map with ARM’s
Cortex M3 103
6.1 Intel’s nurturing process of their business ecosystem 1 11
6.2 Intel’s business ecosystem product: Aigo MID P888 1 19
7.1 China’s unique semiconductor value chain 1 24
7.2 MTK’s nurturing process of their business ecosystem 126
7.3 M TK’s start point in different markets 1 27
7.4 T urnkey solution development 130
8 .1 Phase-ending status of the business ecosystem life
cycle 1 39
8.2 The business ecosystem life cycle and phase status 1 40
9.1 Integration of business ecosystem constructive elements 1 69
ix
