The Innovation Ecosystem as a Source of Value Creation

9Ecosystems and Value Creation

Think and act global, think and act local.

C. Assens, L’Organisation en réseau, 1996

9.1. Introduction

In innovation ecosystems, value creation is based on a search for a balance between opportunism and reciprocity which marks the limits of the focal firm. In the innovation ecosystem, the mechanisms that govern value creation are diverse [DAV 15]. They range from value constellations to co-creation, anchored in knowledge and know-how, to value creation through the network, the value chain and net value.

To create value, actors combine decontextualization and recontextualization of knowledge. The creation of value leads to the creation of meaning essential to the commitment of actors in the innovation ecosystem.

9.2. A search for a balance between opportunism and reciprocity

9.2.1. The production of value

The profound strategic changes mentioned in Chapter 8 have led to a change in the way value is generated [ADN 17]. Ecosystems have become privileged places of value production, in a collaborative mode, involving a great diversity of actors.

This production of value has two major consequences highlighted by Adner [ADN 06]:

• – the launch of the innovation on the market, in the logic of a first-mover advantage¹ strategy [FOS 86], is profitable for the innovation ecosystem if all the actors are ready for the launch;
• – resource allocation: for the author, outsourcing resources to partners is more efficient than using the company’s internal resources. ...