The Dual Path: Ecosystem Orchestration and Participation

This chapter introduces the reader to the challenges of ecosystem orchestration. Following the “orchestrator’s path,” it first emphasizes the need for orchestrators to strike a balance between value creation and value capture. This part discusses interdependence that results from the necessary co-specialization among ecosystem partners as a major challenge. The chapter continues by discussing the qualities that make a good orchestrator, including the ability to create a vision for the future, to facilitate learning, to mobilize others, applying leadership with smart power. The second section of this chapter outlines the “complementor’s path,” with a particular focus on balancing depth versus breadth of ecosystem engagement. The following sections highlight key tensions that emerge in ecosystems. First, decision makers need to balance cooperation and competition in ecosystems (i.e., deal with “coopetition”). Second, the balance between trust and control must be found. The section discusses the various means of control, including the regulation of inputs, processes, and outcomes. Third, the chapter concludes with a discussion of how the balance between openness and closedness can be attained. This section addresses the two challenges of determining the extent to which the ecosystem should be open and of identifying the resources that ecosystem actors should make available to the external environment. It concludes with an analysis of the advantages of free versus selective revealing as a strategy for fostering growth in an ecosystem.