Competition for Ecosystem Leadership of the Bicycle Component: The Case of Shimano and SRAM
摘要
From around the late twentieth century, some management researchers started to investigate the concepts of platforms, industry platforms, or business ecosystems. In this context, (Foss et al., Long Range Planning 56:1–16, 2023) presented the function of dynamic capabilities for ecosystem leadership in the context of the capability perspective in this research area. They focused on the role of the leadership to help solve the ecosystem-wide coordination and cooperation problem. This chapter depends on the study by (Foss et al., Long Range Planning 56:1–16, 2023) to analyze the case of the mountain bike component parts market in the bicycle industry and examine the dynamics of competition and cooperation for ecosystem leadership. The market has had multiple competing ecosystems: the component parts maker, Shimano, the current leading company, and another parts maker, SRAM, the emerging leader. This case focuses on how the emerging leader gains the opportunity to build its ecosystem under the regime of the ecosystem leader and enables other companies to join its ecosystem.