Purpose

The service environment is becoming increasingly turbulent, leading to calls for a systemic understanding of it as a set of dynamic service ecosystems. This paper advances this understanding by developing a typology of service ecosystem dynamics that explains the varying interplay between change and stability within the service environment through distinct behavioral patterns exhibited by service ecosystems over time.

Design/methodology/approach

This study builds upon a systematic literature review of service ecosystems literature and uses system dynamics as a method theory to abductively analyze extant literature and develop a typology of service ecosystem dynamics.

Findings

The paper identifies three types of service ecosystem dynamics—behavioral patterns of service ecosystems—and explains how they unfold through self-adjustment processes and changes within different systemic leverage points. The typology of service ecosystem dynamics consists of (1) reproduction (i.e. stable behavioral pattern), (2) reconfiguration (i.e. unstable behavioral pattern) and (3) transition (i.e. disrupting, shifting behavioral pattern).

Practical implications

The typology enables practitioners to gain a deeper understanding of their service environment by discerning the behavioral patterns exhibited by the constituent service ecosystems. This, in turn, supports them in devising more effective strategies for navigating through it.

Originality/value

The paper provides a precise definition of service ecosystem dynamics and shows how the identified three types of dynamics can be used as a lens to empirically examine change and stability in the service environment. It also offers a set of research directions for tackling service research challenges.

中文翻译：

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了解服务生态系统动态：类型学

目的

服务环境变得越来越动荡，需要将其系统地理解为一组动态的服务生态系统。本文通过开发服务生态系统动态类型学来推进这种理解，该类型学通过服务生态系统随时间推移表现出的不同行为模式来解释服务环境内变化与稳定性之间不同的相互作用。

设计/方法论/途径

本研究建立在对服务生态系统文献的系统文献回顾的基础上，并使用系统动力学作为方法理论来推断分析现有文献并开发服务生态系统动力学的类型学。

发现

本文确定了三种类型的服务生态系统动态（服务生态系统的行为模式），并解释了它们如何通过自我调整过程和不同系统杠杆点内的变化来展开。服务生态系统动态的类型包括（1）再生产（即稳定的行为模式）、（2）重新配置（即不稳定的行为模式）和（3）转型（即破坏、转变的行为模式）。

实际影响

该类型使从业者能够通过辨别组成服务生态系统所表现出的行为模式来更深入地了解其服务环境。这反过来又支持他们制定更有效的策略来应对这一挑战。

原创性/价值

本文提供了服务生态系统动态的精确定义，并展示了如何使用已识别的三种类型的动态作为镜头来实证检验服务环境的变化和稳定性。它还提供了一系列应对服务研究挑战的研究方向。