Mapping, designing and analyzing innovation ecosystems

The study contributes to innovation ecosystem research and managerial practice by developing design theory for mapping, designing and analyzing (i.e., modeling) innovation ecosystems. In doing so, we synthesize the knowledge base on ecosystem research to relevant design constructs and their relationships. Subsequently, we propose an instantiation to the design theory in the form of a graphical decision support tool, and provide guidelines for its application. The tool and the guidelines are tested in modeling a total of 241 existing or potential ecosystem constellations over seven development iterations, which drive mutability of the design theory. To evaluate the power of the design theory within its intended purpose and scope of encompassing a method for ecosystem modeling, we articulate four generic application contexts for ecosystem modeling, and demonstrate each with a case study of how the design theory has been applied. Finally, we discuss the value of the design theory as a boundary object to bridging academic research and managerial practice