A joint white paper is currently making its way through the Atos Scientific Community press channels. Approximately two years in the works, this paper written in collaboration with Ivo Luijendijk (Atos) and with invaluable contributions from George Dermowidjojo (personal friend of the project) considers as its premise the horizontal or flat nature of ecosystems. In a well balanced one, most ecosystem participants have roughly similar means and no inordinate power over the entire system. How, then, does a firm eke out a dominant advantage over its competitors?
That strongly depends on its initial conditions vis-á-vis where they sit in the value/supply chain or ecosystem, or their extant inventory of knowledge/talent/resources, or both. Though more factors certainly do play roles in answering the question, we focus on these three aspects as they seem most critical in determining how a firm can establish and maintain dominance over peer or competitor firms.
The full white paper elaborates on everything discussed thus far – including a discussion on what dominance might mean in different ecosystem utilities – and includes insights pulled from desk research, practical expertise, and a key expert interview on the topic; it will soon be available via the Atos Blog.
– S. James Ellis
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