Formation of an innovation ecosystem – the example of the German automotive industry's software ecosystem

This article focuses on the current formation phase of the software ecosystem in the German automotive industry. The theoretical basis is the concept of innovation ecosystems, for which a microfoundation with arguments from the resource and competence-based view of the firm and resource dependency theory is proposed. Based on qualitative secondary data, three exploratory case studies on German automotive manufacturers Volkswagen, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz in the field of automotive software are presented. From these three case studies, an ideal type of an innovation ecosystem in the formation phase is derived and juxtaposed with one in the maturity phase. This paper contributes to further development of the innovation ecosystem concept. The structure of the innovation ecosystem under study was determined by the distribution of resources and competencies among the OEMs and their established or new value-chain partners. Another influence factor were the OEMs’ efforts to reduce their dependence on individual partners and to increase their bargaining power within the emerging ecosystem. It is also shown that the proposed microfoundation of the ecosystem concept enables a better understanding of the specific dynamics of an ecosystem in the formation phase. For practical applications, starting points for managing dependencies within an ecosystem are identified.