Journal Screenshot

International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

Open Access Journal

ISSN: 2222-6990

Business Ecosystem Strategy for Capital Industry: Transcending the Classical Project Management Amidst Complexity

Maroti (Mark) Khokale, Shathees Baskaran

http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v11-i2/8686

Open access

The capital projects are executed with classical project management; overlooking the inter-organizational system approach of reciprocal relationships. This problem prompts a review of the business ecosystem strategy phenomenon capital projects, more so because it lacks research in this domain. The research questions are relating to classical project management concepts and limitations; business ecosystem and operating strategy actions; and strategy action patterns in capital projects. The paper shows that the ecosystems, in which the capital projects are embedded, are inter-organizational settings; invoking temporal permanence across the series of the projects. The ecosystem strategy concentrates on collaboration, innovation, and competition to create value and to sustain the systemic health and performance in a changing environment; while the project management approach remains around planning, executing, and control. Ecosystem strategy in projects broaches the holism and leverages upon the complexity of interdependence. The paper contributes to theory and practice by extending the macro view of projects and deploying the strength of interdependence. The ecosystem strategy phenomenon provides a paradigm to conduct positivist research; meeting the need for the systemic theorization of the inter-organizational aspects of capital projects, and balancing the need for advances in the development of theory and practical significance.

Aaltone, K., & Kujala, J. (2016). Towards an improved understanding of project stakeholder landscape. International Journal of Project Management, 34, 1537–1552.
Adner , R. (2017). Ecosystem as Structure: An Actionable Construct of Strategy. Journal of Management, 43(1), 39-58.
Adner, R. (2006). Match your innovation strategy to your innovation ecosystem. Harvard Business Review, 84(4), 98-107.
Adner, R., & Kapoor, R. (2010). Value creation in innovation ecosystems: how the structure of technological interdependence affects firm performance in new technology generation. Strategic Management Journal, 31(3), 306-333.
Adner, R., & Kapoor, R. (2016). Innovation ecosystem and the pace of substitution: reexamining technology S-curves. Strategic Management Journal, 37(4), 625-648.
Adner, R., Oxley, J., & Silverman, B. (2013). Introduction: Collaboration and competition in Business Ecosystem. In eds., R. Adner, J. Oxley, & B. Silverman (Eds.), Collaboration and Competition in Business Ecosystems. Advances in Strategic Management, Vol 30 (pp. ix-xvii). Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
Autio, E., & Thomas, L. D. (2014). Innovation ecosystems: implication for innovation management. In M. Dogson, D. Gann, N. Philips, M. Dodgson, D. Gann, & N. Phillips (Eds.), Oxford Handbook of Innovation Management (pp. 204-228). Oxford: Oxford Unoverity Press,.
Baldwin, C. Y. (2012). Organization Design for Business Ecosystems. Journal of Organization Design, 1(1), 20-23.
Barney, J. B. (1986). Strategic factor markets: expectations, luck and business strategy. Management Science, 32(10), 1231-1241.
Barney, J. B. (1989). Asset stocks and sustained competitive advantage - A comment. Management Science, 35(12), 1511-1513.
Basole, R. C., Russell, M. G., Huhmaki, J., Rubens, N., Still, K., & Park, H. (2015b). Understanding business ecosystem dynamics: A data driven approach. ACM Transactions on Management Information Systems, 6(2), 1-32.
Bocchi, G. (2012). A philosopher of Science's Opinion. In F. Varanini, & W. Ginevri, Projects and Complexity (pp. 57-90). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press .
Braum , T., & Sydow, J. (2019). Selecting organizational partners for interorganizational projects: The dual but limited role of the digital capabilities in the construction industry. Project Management Journal , 398-408.
Bremner, R. P., Eisenhardt, K. M., & Hannah, D. P. (2017). Business ecosystems. In L. F. Mesquita, R. Ragozzino, J. J. Reuer, L. F. Mesquita, R. Ragozzinno, & J. J. Reuer (Eds.), Collaborative Strategy (pp. 215-223). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.
Bygballe, L. E., & Ingemansson, M. (2014). The logic of innovation in construction . Industrial Marketing Management , 43, 512-524.
Capra, F., & Luisi, P. L. (2014). The systems view of life - A unifying vision (01st ed.). Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.
Ceccagnoli, M., Forman, C., Huang, P., & Wu, D. J. (2012). Cocreation of value in a platform ecosystem: The case of enterprise software. MIS Quartely, 36(1), 263-290.
Chih, Y. Y., Zwikael, O., & Restubog, S. L. (2019). Enhancing value co-creation in professional service projects: The roles of professionals, clients and their effective interactions. International Journal of Project Management, 599– 615.
Comello, L. (2012). Self-organized project management. In F. Varanini , & W. Ginevri, Projects and Complexity (pp. 121-140). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press .
Cox, A., & Thompson, I. (1997). 'Fit for purpose' contractual relations: determining a theorotical framework for construction project. European Journal of Purchasing & Supply Management , 3(3), 127-135.
Davies, A., MacAulay,, S., DeBarro, T., & Thurston, M. (2014). Making innovation happen in a megaproject: London’s crossrail suburban railway system. Project Management Journal, 45(6), 25–37.
De Toni, A. F. (2012). The shared vision as a chnage engine. In F. Veranini , & W. Ginevri, Projects and Complexity (pp. 91-119). Boca Raton : CRC Press .
DeFillippi, R., & Sydow, J. (2016). Project netwroks: Governance choices and paradoxical tensions . Project Management Journal, 47(5), 6–17.
Den Hartigh, E., & Van Asseldonk, T. (2004). Business Ecosystems: A reasearch framework for investigating the relation between network structure, firm strategy, and pattern of innovation diffusion. ECCON 2004 Annual Meeting . Trampoline, The Netherlands: ECCON.
Den Hartigh, E., Vissacher, W., Tol, M., & Salas, M. J. (2013). Measuring the health of a business ecosystem. In S. Jansen, S. Brinkkemper, & M. Cusumano (Eds.), Software Ecosystems: Analyzing and managing business networks in the software industry (pp. 221 -246). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing .
Dubois, A., & Gadde, L. E. (2000). Supply strategy and network effects — purchasing behaviour in the construction industry. European Journal of Purchasing & Supply Management, 6(3-4), 207-215.
Dubois, A., & Gadde, L. E. (2002). The construction industry as a loosely coupled system: implications for productivity and innovation . Construction Management and Economics , 20, 621-631.
Dyer, J. H. (1996). Specialized supplier networks as a source of competitve advanatge. Strategic Management Journal, 17(4), 271-291.
Dyer, J. H., & Singh, H. (1998). The relational view: Cooperative Strategy. Academy of Management Review, 4, 660-679.
Eriksson, K., Wikstorm, K., Hellstrom, M., & Levitt, R. E. (2019). Projects in the business ecosystem: The case of short sea shipping and logistics. Project Management Journal , 50(2), 1-15.
Espejo, R. (2003). Social systems and the emodiment of organizational learning. In E. Mitleton-Kelly (Ed.), Complex systems and evolutionary perspectives on organizations - The application of complexity theory to organizations (pp. 53-69). Amsterdam: Pergamon.
Gawar , A., & Cusumano, M. A. (2014). Industry Platforms and Ecosystem Innovation. Journal of Production Innovation Management, 31(3), 417- 433.
Geraldi, J., & Söderlund, J. (2018). Project studies: What it is, where it is going. International Journal of Project Management, 36(1), 55-50.
Geraldi, J., Maylor, H., & Williams, T. (2011). Now, let's make it really complex (complicated): A systematic review of the complexities of projects. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 31(9), 966-990.
Giancotti, F. (2012). Testimonies and complexity. In F. Varanini, & W. Ginevri, Projects and Complexity (pp. 79-119). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Gulati , R., Puranam, P., & Tushman, M. (2012). Meta-organisational design: Rethinking design in interorganizational and community context. Strategic Management Journal, 33(6), 571-586.
Hannah, D. P., & Eisenhardt, K. M. (2018). How firms navigate cooperation and competition in nascent ecosystems. Strategic Management Journal, 39(12), 3163-3192.
Iansiti, M., & Levian, R. (2004). Strategy as Ecology. Harward Business Review, 82(3), 68-81.
Iyer , B., Lee, C. H., & Venkatraman, N. (2006). Manging in a "Small world ecosysstem": Some lessons from software sector. California Management Review, 48(3), 28-47.
Iyer, B., & Davenport, T. H. (2008, April). Reverse engineering Google's innovation machine. Harvard Business Review, pp. 1-11.
Jacobides, M. G., Cennamo, C. C., & Gawar, A. (2016). Paradim shift or lebel profusion? A critical examination of ecosystem in strategy research. (Working Paper) .
Jacobides, M. G., Cennamo, C., & Gawer, A. (2018). Towards a theory of ecosystems. Strategic Management, 39, 2255-2276.
Javi, K., & Kortelainnen, S. (2017). Taking stock of empirical research on business ecosystem: a literature review. International Journal on Business and System Research, 215-218.
Kandiah, G., & Gossain, S. (1998). Reinventing value: The new business ecosystem. Strategy and Leadership, 26(5), 28-33.
Kapoor , R., & Agarwal, S. (2017). Sustaining superior performance in business ecosystems: Evidence from application software developers in iOS and Android Smartphone Ecosystem. Organization Science, 28(3), 531-551.
Kapoor, R. (2018). Ecosystems: brodening the locas of value creation. Journal of Organisation Design, 7(12), 1-16.
Kapoor, R., & Lee, J. M. (2012). Coordinating and competing in Ecosystems. Strategic Management Journal, 34(3), 274-296.
Kerzner , H. (2009). Project Management - A systems approach to planning, scheduling and controlling (10th ed.). Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.
Kuhn, T. S. (1970). The structure of scientific revolutions (2nd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Kusuma, I. (2014). The cultural ecosystem of magaprojects: The interconnectedness of organizational elements and their wider institutional contexts . International Journal of Architecture, Engineering and Construction, 82-97.
Lane, D. (2011). Complexity and innovation dynamics. In C. Antonelli (Ed.), Handbook of the economic complexity of technological change (pp. 63-80). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Lehtinen, J., Peltokorpi, A., & Artto, K. (2019). Megaprojects as organizational platforms and technology platforms for value creation. International Journal of Project Management, 37, 43-48.
MacCormack, A., Forbath, T., Brooks, P., & Kalaher, P. (2007). Innovation through global collaboration: A new source of competitive advantage (Working Paper N0 07-079). Boston, MA.: Harvard Business School.
Makinen , S., & Dehayir, O. (2012). Business ecosystem evolution and strategic consideration: A literature revview. In B. Katzy, T. Holzman, K. Sailer, & K. D. Thoben (Eds.), Proceedings of the 2012, 18th International Conference on Engineering, Techology and Innovation (pp. 1-10). Munich, Germany: IEEE.
McKinsey & Company. (2020). The next normal in construction . McKinsey and Company .
McKinsey Global Institute. (2017). Reinventing construction: A route to higher productivity. McKinsey & Company.
Meyer, A. D., Gaba, V., & Colwell, K. A. (2005). Organizing far from equillibrium: Nonlinear change in organizational field. Organization Science, 16 (5), 456-473.
Moore, J. F. (1993). Predators and Prey. Harvard Business Review, 71(3), 76-86.
Paradiso, L., & Ruffa, M. (2012). The project beyond WBS. In F. Varanini, & W. Ginevri, Projects and Complexity (pp. 141-176). Boca Ratan, FL: CRC Press.
Peltoniemi, M. (2006). Preliminary theoretical framework for the study of business ecosystem. Emergence, Complexity & Organization, 8(1), 10-19.
Piece, L. (2009). Big losses in ecosystem niches: How core firm decisions drive complementary product shakeouts. Strategic Management Journal, 30, 323-347.
Project Management Institute . (2017). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge . Newton Square, PA: Project Management Institute, Inc.
Pulkka, L., Ristimaki, M., Rajakallio, K., & Junnila, S. (2016). Applicability and benefits of the ecosystem concepts in the construction industry. Construction Management and Economics , 34(2), 129-144.
Radziwon, A., & Bogers, M. (2018). Managing SMEs' collaboration across organisational boundries within a regional business ecosystem. In W. Vanhaverberk, F. Frattini, N. Roijakkers, & M. Usman, Researching Open Innovations in SMEs (pp. 213-248). Singapore: World Scientific Publishing Company Pvt. Ltd. .
Rahimi, M., Kenworthy, T. P., & Balakrishnan, J. (2018). An analysis ofiInnovation in oil and Gas Projects. Project Management Journal, 64-84.
Ramlingam, B., Jones, H., Reba, T., & Young, J. (2008). Exploring the science of complexity ideas and implications for development and humanitarian efforts (Working Paper 285) (2nd ed.). London: Overseas Development Institute.
Rietveld, J., Schilling, M. A., & Bellavities , C. (2019). Platform Strategy: Managing ecosystem value through selective promotion of complements. Organization Science, 30(6), 1232-1251.
Ritala, P., & Almpanopoulou, A. (2017). In defence of "eco" in innovation ecosystem. Technovation, 60(61), 39-42.
Russell, M., & Smorodinskya, N. V. (2018). Leveraging complexity for ecosystemic innovation . Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 136, 114-131.
Schneider, A., Wickert, C., & Marti, E. (2016). Reducing complexity by creating complexity: A systems theory perspective on how organizations respond to their environments. Journal of Management Studies, 54(2), 182-208.
Shipilov, A., & Gawer, A. (2020). Integrating research on interorganizational networks and ecosystems. Academy of Management Annals, 14(1).
Shiu, E., Jiang, Z., & Zaefarian, G. (2014). Antecedents of behavioural commitment in inter-organizational relationships: a field study of the UK construction industry. 32(9), 888–903.
Söderlund, J., Sankaran, S., & Biesenthal, C. (2017). The past and present of megaprojects. Project Management Journal, 48(6), 5–16.
Steen, J., DeFillippi, R., Sydow, J., Pryke, S., & Michelfelder, I. (2018). Projects and networks: Understanding resource flows and governance of temporary organizations with Quantitative and Qualitative research methods. Project Management Journal, 49(2), 3–17.
Sydow, J., & Braum, T. (2018). Projects as temporary organizations: An agenda for the further theorizing the interorganizational dimension . International Journal of Project Management , 4-11. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2017.04.012
Teece, D. J. (2007). Explicating dynamic capabilities: The nature and microfoundations of (sustainable) enterprise performance. Strategic Management Journal, 28, 1319-1350.
Thomas, L. D., & Autio, E. (2014). The fifth facet: The ecosystem as an organizational field. (pp. 1-33). Copenhagen, Denmark : DRUID Society Conference. Retrieved from https://conference.druid.dk/acc_papers/qpja8vqx0vto0qkn5vg3uiqafb24.pdf
Tiwana, A. (2015). Evolutionary Competition in Platform Ecosystems. 26(2), 266-281.
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), 17-24.
Varanini , F., & Ginervi, W. (2012). Introduction. In F. Varanini, & W. Ginervi, Projects and Complexity (p. xxi). Boca Raton: CRC Press.
Varanini, F. (2012). Compexity in Projects: A Humanistic View. In F. Varanini, & W. Ginevri, Projects and (pp. 1-56). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press .
Vargo, S. L., & Lusch, R. F. (2017). Service-dominant logic 2025. International Journal of Research in Marketing , 34, 46-67.
Weick, K. E. (1976). Educational organizations as loosely coupled systems . Administrative Science Quarterly, 21(1), 1-19.
Zacharakis, A. L., Shephard, D. A., & Coombs, J. E. (2003). The development of venture-capital-backed internet companies - An ecosystem perspective. Journal of Business Venturing, 18, 217-231.
Zahra, S. A., & Nambisan, S. (2012). Entreprenuership and strategic thinking in business ecosysem. Business Horizons, 55, 219-229.

In-Text Citation: (Khokale, M., & Baskaran, 2021)
To Cite this Article: Khokale, M., and Baskaran, S. (2021). Business Ecosystem Strategy for Capital Industry: Transcending the Classical Project Management Amidst Complexity. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 11(2), 250–264.