Service ecosystem well-being: conceptualization and implications for theory and practice
ISSN: 0309-0566
Article publication date: 13 September 2019
Issue publication date: 21 November 2019
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to conceptualize and characterize service ecosystems, addressing calls for research on this important and under-researched topic.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors draw on four meta-theoretical foundations of S-D logic – resource integration, resource density, practices and institutions – providing a new integrated conceptual framework of ecosystem well-being. They then apply this conceptualization in the context of a complex healthcare setting, exploring the characteristics of ecosystem well-being at the meso level.
Findings
This study provides an integrated conceptual framework to explicate the nature and structure of well-being in a complex service ecosystem; identifies six key characteristics of ecosystem well-being; illustrates service ecosystem well-being in a specific healthcare context, zooming in on the meso level of the ecosystem and noting the importance of embedding a shared worldview; provides practical guidance for managers and policy makers about how to manage complex service ecosystems in their quest for improving service outcomes; and offers an insightful research agenda.
Research limitations/implications
This research focuses on service ecosystems with an illustration in one healthcare context, suggesting additional studies that explore other industry contexts.
Practical implications
Practically, the study indicates the imperative for managing across mutually adapting levels of the ecosystem, identifying specific new practices that can improve service outcomes.
Social implications
Examining well-being in the context of a complex service ecosystem is critical for policymakers charged with difficult decisions about balancing the demands of different levels and actors in a systemic world.
Originality/value
The study is the first to conceptualize and characterize well-being in a service ecosystem, providing unique insights and identifying six specific characteristics of well-being.
Keywords
Citation
Frow, P., McColl-Kennedy, J.R., Payne, A. and Govind, R. (2019), "Service ecosystem well-being: conceptualization and implications for theory and practice", European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 53 No. 12, pp. 2657-2691. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJM-07-2018-0465
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited