Developing Digital Business Ecosystems to Create Collaborative Value in Supply-Chain Finance

Abstract

Although many enterprises have been launching the supply-chain finance (SCF) to help firms solve financing problems and increase collaborative performance, the formation process remains limited. The "digital business ecosystem (DBE)" is a sound guiding theory that we adopt to study the process of SCF networks formation, while SCF offers a suitable phenomenon to research how to integrate the business ecosystems and digital platforms to shape DBE and its logic of value. Guided by this lens, we conduct an in-depth case study of a super-large infrastructure enterprise in China. This study reveals a process model which consists of focal IT/IS enablers, dominant types of ecosystems, and forms of ecosystems. Our findings contribute to existing body of literature, in the field of SCF and DBEs. Core firms of ecosystems can use the model to design and develop DBEs to co-create value in SCF with rational deliberation and planning.

7 topics that business ecosystems navigate: Assessment of scientific activity and future research agenda

“…Another document related to this topic is “Blockchain in innovation in health care: literature review and case study from a business ecosystem perspective” [ 38 ], which aims to explore a paradigm shift and the development of the healthcare ecosystem using Blockchain technology; through a bibliographic analysis with a case study, 4 stages of the life cycle of a business ecosystem made up of birth, expansion, leadership and self-renewal or death were examined, the results showed that the impacts directed at the traditional health industry stand out in the 4 stages favoring a paradigm shift of health in the future. Other research papers linked to this theme were written by the authors: [ [39] , [40] , [41] ].…”

Horizontal network collaboration by entrepreneurial ventures: a supply chain finance perspective

“…However, even if sometimes the literature utilizes the terminology “ecosystem” or “network,” it always focuses its attention on vertical networks by considering multiple suppliers and/or clients (i.e. Bals, 2019; Blundel and Hingley, 2001; Carnovale et al ., 2019; Li et al ., 2020; Thakkar et al ., 2008; Zhao et al ., 2020). Greater connectivity and information flow are innovations at the center of SCF management (Bals, 2019) that are also worth trying at the network level, which concretely valorizes “community” aspect (Gelsomino et al ., 2016; Caniato et al ., 2016).…”

What role do FinTech companies play in supply chain finance? A signaling intermediary perspective

“…Notwithstanding that FinTech has received more attention, research on this topic has not been adequately investigated in the existing literature (Caniato et al , 2016; Moretto and Caniato, 2021). In addition, while Carnovale et al (2019) indicate that FinTech companies acting as intermediaries in the SCF network “increase the complexity and interconnectedness of the network in which firms are embedded,” Zhao et al (2020) proposed that the digital FinTech platform promotes synergy in the SCF network. Therefore, there are still open issues regarding how FinTech companies embedded in SCF networks signal information based on digital platforms to reduce information asymmetry and what benefits they provide to SCF.…”