Collaborative Implementation Of Product-Service Systems In Business Ecosystems – Empirical Investigation Of Neutral Third Parties As A Success Factor

Abstract

The collaborative implementation of product-service systems is a promising field of action for the German mechanical engineering industry. Through the interaction in business ecosystems, mechanical engineering companies integrate complementary competencies and technologies from different actors into customer-centric solutions, which satisfy customer needs to a greater extent. However, collaborative initiatives in business ecosystems often fail in operation or are not implemented at all. The main cause is a lack of cooperation capabilities among the cooperation partners. To solve this issue, this paper investigates how cooperation capabilities can be increased efficiently by interacting with neutral third parties in business ecosystems. Neutral third parties contribute to forming and preserving collaborative initiatives in business ecosystems and reduce transaction costs through their impartiality and specific domain knowledge. Even though the neutral third-party approach is discussed in theory, it has yet been poorly examined in practice. To develop a better understanding regarding the practical fields of application and the requirements for the implementation of the neutral third party approach in the context of mechanical engineering business ecosystems, 29 expert interviews have been conducted. The findings contribute to the transfer of the neutral third-party approach into practice and thus increase the success of a collaborative implementation of product-service systems in business ecosystems.