Collectively Constructing the Business Ecosystem: Towards Crowd-Based Modeling for Platforms and Infrastructures

Abstract

In this conceptual article, we highlight group modeling and crowd-based modeling as an approach for collectively constructing business ecosystem models. Based on case study examples, we showcase how engaging in the collective activity of crowd-based modeling supports the creation of value propositions in business ecosystems. Such collective activity creates shared, IS-embedded resources on the network level that align the diverse set of ecosystem stakeholders such as firms, public actors, citizens, and other types of organizations. Based on extant research, we describe the roles involved in building ecosystem models that inform and reconfigure shared infrastructures and platforms.