Title: Taking initiative in market creation – a business ecosystem actor perspective

Authors: Antti Pellinen; Paavo Ritala; Kati Järvi; Liisa-Maija Sainio

Addresses: Tikura Ltd., Korvenkyläntie 39, FI-55300 Rauha, Finland. ' School of Business, Lappeenranta University of Technology, P.O. Box 20, FI-53851 Lappeenranta, Finland. ' Lappeenranta University of Technology, Kouvola Unit, Prikaatintie 9, 45100 Kouvola, Finland. ' School of Business, Lappeenranta University of Technology, P.O. Box 20, FI-53851 Lappeenranta, Finland

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of taking initiative in developing next generation communication services. Focusing on different actors in our analysis, we adopt a business ecosystem perspective, where the role of network effects and interoperability are seen as prerequisites for market creation. In order to create new markets, however, certain actors need to take the initiative and subsequent risks. We provide an exploratory case study on IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) technology, which shows that taking initiative by different actors differ significantly in various phases of the development of new communication offerings. Thus, it is important to recognise that there is not only a need for a hub firm to lead the development as a whole, but more likely there is a need for several actors taking the initiative in the right time and at the right place.

Keywords: business ecosystems; ICT sector; networks; market creation; initiative taking; first-mover advantage; first-mover disadvantage; interoperability; network effects; next generation communications; IP multimedia subsystems; hub firms.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBE.2012.046204

International Journal of Business Environment, 2012 Vol.5 No.2, pp.140 - 158

Accepted: 12 Oct 2011
Published online: 28 Aug 2014 *

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