Business ecosystem

At this moment, the creation of a global model to support large-scale company requirements, i.e. for aU the phases of product lifecycle, within all the supply chain and for a whole domain business ecosystem, is one challenge to be addressed by the international scientific community. STEP has been presented as a viable alternative to the current state of multiple, incomplete, overlapped and proprietary data formats, seeking solid and reliable data exchange between partners using heterogeneous systems [4]. 

Area of operation Medium level of the organisation Many levels of the organisation Entire organisation Extended enterprise (new business ecosystem)... 

Business ecosystem theory is closely related to the value network risk management consideration. A business ecosystem can be oirtlined as the enviromnent beyond the core business and the value network. Sometimes the term business ecosystem has been used more as a conceptualization or analogy to value networks. As defined by lansiti and Levien (2004), the business ecosystem can be seen as interdependencies between several business actors and the business environment in which they operate. 

A business ecosystem should survive unforeseen technological change, just like a biological ecosystem must tolerate environmental changes. The health of the ecosystem is an important indicator of how the ecosystem is able to produce value and share it between the members of the system. From the risk management standpoint, companies should position themselves within the business ecosystem that is most able to generate value now and also into the future, and which is committed to sharing wealth with its members. 

The evolution of the business ecosystem provides a framework for considering the strategies and relationships in the value networks in terms of the business life-cycle. Here the business ecosystem characterizes the opportunity and risk environment which allow different value networks and core businesses to grow and co-evolve. According to Moore (1996), this co-evolution is defined as a... 

Moore, James. The Death of Competition Leadership and Strategy in the Age of Business Ecosystems. New York Harper Business, 1996. 

Health, Environmental, Quarantine and Other Regulations Many countries have strict regulations designed to protect the ecosystem and agrochemical business. For example any matrix material derived from pork, beef, sheep or horse tissue has to be accompanied with a Veterinary Certificate confirming that the matrix material is free of certain specified diseases before it can be imported into the EU. The Australian import restrictions are even tougher and require the importer to obtain prior permission to import plant and animal materials and products derived from biological materials. To get an import license it is necessary to complete an application, which includes information from the producer about the actual production process used to prepare the matrix ... 

Event 8 Chemical Spill—Oil. Ashland Oil Company, Inc., Floreffe, Pennsylvania (January 1988). The oil spill temporarily contaminated drinking water sources for an estimated 1 million people in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio contaminated river ecosystems killed wildlife damaged private property and adversely affected businesses in the area. More than 511,000 gallons of diesel fuel remain unrecovered and are presumed to be in the rivers (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 2008). 

The focus on the chemical industry is made because of the prominence of its role in the global economy and in society. The impact of the chemical industry is felt in every area of commerce, as chemicals are ubiquitous in all value chains and affect all ecosystems, no matter how seemingly pristine, on the planet. The lessons presented here, then, can extend to other business sectors. 

A critical aspect of integrating sustainability into business is in the area of valuation. How do we know the financial impacts of our decisions How can performing more sustainability help to reduce costs, avoid future costs, increase the company s value proposition, support growth, and so on What are the links between intangibles related to social and environmental performance and a hrm s overall performance What contributes to value creation in the chemical industry How can we reconcile the fact that we may incur costs for performing more sustainably in the short term while the benefits may not be captured until the long term similarly, how do we justify costs associated with our business decisions when the benefits might accrue to others in the value chain We know the value of ecosystem services is both invaluable - that is, our life depends on them - and of no real market value how then should we value ecosystem services in order to protect them for our survival and that of our business institutions This section attempts to offer points of view on these topics. 

Complex, self-organizing systems continuously adapt to and change with their environments but do so in ways that are impossible to predict. Because of this, people have begun to realize that industrial firms operate very much like ecosystems (Boston, 2001). The result of this has been complexity theory, explaining how a complex adaptive systems approach can help make policy, business, education, and research decisions. Studying how ants find the closest food source, for instance, has helped industries to find efficient solutions to marketing soap, schedule movement of casks of whiskey, and control crowds at amusement parks (Figure 8.2.8). 

Such a loosely coupled ecosystem will shape and require new business models and new stakeholder relationships. 

The first step is modeling your organization s own ecosystem - all the major constituency groups that are vital to your business success. There really is no right or wrong model, unless you choose to go it alone. 

To pursue open, collaborative innovation, enterprises simply must find ways to tap into the potential of the skill, talent, and creativity of people from different teams in different organizations across the globe. A company can only be as innovative as the collective capacity of the people who make up its ecosystem. And to attract and retain talented people, a company must enable those people to feel respected, as individuals, as professionals and as members of a team. The company must tmst those people and encourage them to collaborate and innovate with colleagues within and outside the business, driven as much by pride of contribution as by loyalty to the company. 

Anonymous, Agricultural Ecosystems, Facts and Trends, World Business Council for Sustainable Development/IUCN, Gland, Conches-Geneva, 2008. 

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