Comparative Study of Knowledge, Innovation, and Business Ecosystems: A Policy-Oriented Approach

Document Type : Review Article

Authors

1 Ph.D. Student in Management of Technology, Alborz Campus, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

2 Associate Professor of Industrial management, College of Management, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

3 Assistant Professor of Department of Innovation Policy and Future Studies, Technology Studies Institute, Tehran, Iran

10.22059/jppolicy.2024.99832

Abstract

This study reviews and compares knowledge, innovation, and business ecosystems, highlighting their similarities, differences, and interactions. The knowledge ecosystem emphasizes knowledge production and exchange through collaboration between universities, research institutions, and companies. The innovation ecosystem focuses on creating shared value by developing and commercializing innovations, involving a network of companies and institutions. The business ecosystem centers around creating economic value through dynamic competition, often structured around a central company or platform. A systematic literature review using bibliometric and content analysis was conducted to analyze existing studies. The findings reveal that while these ecosystems have distinct objectives and structures, they share overlaps that facilitate synergy and stronger interconnections. Such interactions enhance productivity and efficiency and contribute to sustainable economic growth and innovation. This study presents a comparative framework that can serve as a guide for researchers and policymakers in shaping inter-ecosystem interactions.

Keywords

References

  1. Adner, R. (2006). Match your innovation strategy to your innovation ecosystem. Harvard business review, 84(4), 98.
  2. Autio, E., & Thomas, L. (2014). Innovation ecosystems. In: The Oxford handbook of innovation management.
  3. Baldwin, C. Y., Bogers, M. L., Kapoor, R., & West, J. (2024). Focusing the ecosystem lens on innovation studies. Research Policy, 53(3), 104949.
  4. Basole, R. C. (2008). Visualization of interfirm relations in a converging mobile ecosystem. Paper presented at the 2008 7th International Conference on Mobile Business.
  5. Bomtempo, J.-V., Alves, F. C., & de Almeida Oroski, F. (2017). Developing new platform chemicals: what is required for a new bio-based molecule to become a platform chemical in the bioeconomy? Faraday discussions, 202, 213-225.
  6. Brusoni, S., & Prencipe, A. (2013). The organization of innovation in ecosystems: Problem framing, problem solving, and patterns of coupling. In Collaboration and competition in business ecosystems (pp. 167-194): Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
  7. Carayannis, E. G., & Campbell, D. F. (2009). 'Mode 3'and'Quadruple Helix': toward a 21st century fractal innovation ecosystem. International journal of technology management, 46(3-4), 201-234.
  8. Carrara, F., & Freisinger, E. (2024). ACTORS’ACTIVITIES, AND INTERACTIONS IN INNOVATION ECOSYSTEMS: A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW AND TYPOLOGY. International Journal of Innovation Management, 28(03n04), 2430002.
  9. Carrozza, C., Cruz, A. R., Nogueira, C., Pinto, H., & Uyarra, E. (2020). European knowledge and entrepreneurial ecosystems: Networks within climate change and adaptation research. Thunderbird International Business Review, 62(5), 579-591.
  10. Cassiman, B., & Valentini, G. (2016). Open innovation: are inbound and outbound knowledge flows really complementary? Strategic Management Journal, 37(6), 1034-1046.
  11. Clarysse, B., Wright, M., Bruneel, J., & Mahajan, A. (2014). Creating value in ecosystems: Crossing the chasm between knowledge and business ecosystems. Research Policy, 43(7), 1164-1176.
  12. Cobben, D., Ooms, W., Roijakkers, N., & Radziwon, A. (2022). Ecosystem types: A systematic review on boundaries and goals. Journal of Business Research, 142, 138-164.
  13. Dattée, B., Alexy, O., & Autio, E. (2018). Maneuvering in poor visibility: How firms play the ecosystem game when uncertainty is high. Academy of Management Journal, 61(2), 466-498.
  14. de Vasconcelos Gomes, L. A., Facin, A. L. F., Salerno, M. S., & Ikenami, R. K. (2018). Unpacking the innovation ecosystem construct: Evolution, gaps and trends. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 136, 30-48.
  15. Ding, L., Ye, R. M., & Wu, J.-x. (2019). Platform strategies for innovation ecosystem: Double-case study of Chinese automobile manufactures. Journal of cleaner production, 209, 1564-1577.
  16. Dougherty, D., & Dunne, D. D. (2011). Organizing ecologies of complex innovation. Organization science, 22(5), 1214-1223.
  17. Drori, I., & Lavie, D. (2023). How Do Innovation Ecosystems Emerge? The Case of Nanotechnology in Israel. Journal of Management Studies.
  18. Franzoni, C., & Sauermann, H. (2014). Crowd science: The organization of scientific research in open collaborative projects. Research Policy, 43(1), 1-20.
  19. Frenkel, A., & Maital, S. (2014). Mapping national innovation ecosystems: Foundations for policy consensus: Edward Elgar Publishing.
  20. Graça, P., & Camarinha-Matos, L. M. (2017). Performance indicators for collaborative business ecosystems—Literature review and trends. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 116, 237-255.
  21. Gupta, R., Mejia, C., & Kajikawa, Y. (2019). Business, innovation and digital ecosystems landscape survey and knowledge cross sharing. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 147, 100-109.
  22. Hannah, D. P., & Eisenhardt, K. M. (2018). How firms navigate cooperation and competition in nascent ecosystems. Strategic Management Journal, 39(12), 3163-3192.
  23. Holgersson, M., Granstrand, O., & Bogers, M. (2018). The evolution of intellectual property strategy in innovation ecosystems: Uncovering complementary and substitute appropriability regimes. Long Range Planning, 51(2), 303-319.
  24. Hughes, T. P. (1993). Networks of power: electrification in Western society, 1880-1930: JHU press.
  25. Iansiti, M., & Levien, R. (2004). Strategy as ecology. Harvard business review, 82(3), 68-78, 126.
  26. Jacobides, M. G., Cennamo, C., & Gawer, A. (2018). Towards a theory of ecosystems. Strategic Management Journal, 39(8), 2255-2276.
  27. Jarvenpaa, S. L., & Välikangas, L. (2016). From governance void to interactive governing behaviors in new research networks. Academy of Management Discoveries, 2(3), 226-246.
  28. Järvi, K., Almpanopoulou, A., & Ritala, P. (2018). Organization of knowledge ecosystems: Prefigurative and partial forms. Research Policy, 47(8), 1523-1537.
  29. Kapoor, R., & Agarwal, S. (2017). Sustaining superior performance in business ecosystems: Evidence from application software developers in the iOS and Android smartphone ecosystems. Organization science, 28(3), 531-551.
  30. Kapoor, R., & Lee, J. M. (2013). Coordinating and competing in ecosystems: How organizational forms shape new technology investments. Strategic Management Journal, 34(3), 274-296.
  31. Li, Y.-R. (2009). The technological roadmap of Cisco's business ecosystem. Technovation, 29(5), 379-386.
  32. Lin, H., Zeng, S., Liu, H., & Li, C. (2020). Bridging the gaps or fecklessness? A moderated mediating examination of intermediaries’ effects on corporate innovation. Technovation, 94, 102018.
  33. Liu, Z., Li, Z., Zhang, Y., Mutukumira, A. N., Feng, Y., Cui, Y., . . . Wang, S. (2024). Comparing Business, Innovation, and Platform Ecosystems: A Systematic Review of the Literature. Biomimetics, 9(4), 216.
  34. Ma, Y., Rong, K., Mangalagiu, D., Thornton, T. F., & Zhu, D. (2018). Co-evolution between urban sustainability and business ecosystem innovation: Evidence from the sharing mobility sector in Shanghai. Journal of Cleaner Production, 188, 942-953.
  35. Moore, J. F. (1993). Predators and prey: a new ecology of competition. Harvard business review, 71(3), 75-86.
  36. Moore, J. F. (1996). The death of competition: leadership and strategy in the age of business ecosystems. (No Title).
  37. Nambisan, S., & Baron, R. A. (2013). Entrepreneurship in innovation ecosystems: Entrepreneurs’ self–regulatory processes and their implications for new venture success. Entrepreneurship theory and practice, 37(5), 1071-1097.
  38. Oh, D.-S., Phillips, F., Park, S., & Lee, E. (2016). Innovation ecosystems: A critical examination. Technovation, 54, 1-6.
  39. Perkmann, M., & Schildt, H. (2015). Open data partnerships between firms and universities: The role of boundary organizations. Research Policy, 44(5), 1133-1143.
  40. Pierce, L. (2009). Big losses in ecosystem niches: How core firm decisions drive complementary product shakeouts. Strategic Management Journal, 30(3), 323-347.
  41. Powell, W. W., Packalen, K., & Whittington, K. (2012). Organizational and institutional genesis. The emergence of organizations and markets, 434(2012), 434-465.
  42. Ramezani, J., & Camarinha-Matos, L. M. (2020). Approaches for resilience and antifragility in collaborative business ecosystems. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 151, 119846.
  43. Robertson, J., Caruana, A., & Ferreira, C. (2023). Innovation performance: The effect of knowledge-based dynamic capabilities in cross-country innovation ecosystems. International Business Review, 32(2), 101866.
  44. Rong, K., Wu, J., Shi, Y., & Guo, L. (2015). Nurturing business ecosystems for growth in a foreign market: Incubating, identifying and integrating stakeholders. Journal of International Management, 21(4), 293-308.
  45. Rosenberg, N. (1976). Perspectives on technology. (No Title).
  46. Rubens, N., Still, K., Huhtamäki, J., & Russell, M. G. (2011). A Network Analysis of Investment Firms as Resource Routers in Chinese Innovation Ecosystem. J. Softw., 6(9), 1737-1745.
  47. Scaringella, L., & Radziwon, A. (2018). Innovation, entrepreneurial, knowledge, and business ecosystems: Old wine in new bottles? Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 136, 59-87.
  48. Still, K., Huhtamäki, J., Russell, M. G., & Rubens, N. (2014). Insights for orchestrating innovation ecosystems: the case of EIT ICT Labs and data-driven network visualisations. International Journal of Technology Management 23, 66(2-3), 243-265.
  49. Sun, S. L., Zhang, Y., Cao, Y., Dong, J., & Cantwell, J. (2019). Enriching innovation ecosystems: The role of government in a university science park. Global Transitions, 1, 104-119.
  50. Suominen, A., Seppänen, M., & Dedehayir, O. (2019). A bibliometric review on innovation systems and ecosystems: a research agenda. European Journal of Innovation Management, 22(2), 335-360.
  51. Talmar, M., Walrave, B., Podoynitsyna, K., & Holmstrom, J. (2018). Mapping, designing and analyzing innovation ecosystems. Paper presented at the Academy of Management Proceedings.
  52. Tsujimoto, M., Kajikawa, Y., Tomita, J., & Matsumoto, Y. (2018). A review of the ecosystem concept—Towards coherent ecosystem design. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 136, 49-58.
  53. Valkokari, K. (2015). Business, innovation, and knowledge ecosystems: How they differ and how to survive and thrive within them. Technology Innovation Management Review, 5(8).
  54. Van der Borgh, M., Cloodt, M., & Romme, A. G. L. (2012). Value creation by knowledge‐based ecosystems: evidence from a field study. R&D Management, 42(2), 150-169.
  55. VODĂ, A. I., BORTOŞ, S., & ŞOITU, D. T. (2023). Knowledge Ecosystem: A Sustainable Theoretical Approach. European Journal of Sustainable Development, 12(2), 47-47.
  56. Xu, G., Wu, Y., Minshall, T., & Zhou, Y. (2018). Exploring innovation ecosystems across science, technology, and business: A case of 3D printing in China. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 136, 208-221.
  57. Yi, Y., Chen, Y., & Li, D. (2022). Stakeholder ties, organizational learning, and business model innovation: A business ecosystem perspective. Technovation, 114, 102445.
Iranian Journal of Public Policy
Volume 10, Issue 4
December 2024
Pages 155-172

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics