The emergence of the electric vehicle industry in Chinese Shandong Province

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to propose a research design that seeks to explore the evolutionary pathways of the emerging electric vehicle (EV) industry through employing the business ecosystem framework, which focuses on the interaction between firms, government officials, industrial associations and customers; and at the same time to identify the necessary strategic capabilities behind such emergence.Design/methodology/approachQualitative research methodology will be employed such that multiple case studies will be carried out through the implementation of interviews with companies, industrial players and policy makers.FindingsThe research findings of this paper include a comprehensive depiction of the emerging business ecosystem structure of the EV industry, which contributed in building the main elements of the proposed conceptual research framework.Research limitations/implicationsThe research findings of this paper are based on one province in China; also the business ecosystem of the emerging EV industry may differ in different regions across the country.Practical implicationsPractically, this research would be able to provide a tool for industrial players and policy makers through the formulation of a capability maturity model, which allows the evaluation of the capabilities of the corresponding ecosystem players, so as to permit the assessment of their positions with the provision of guidelines benefiting the advancement of emerging industries.Originality/valueThis paper offers original theoretical contributions through developing strategic capabilities of emerging business ecosystems and is the first to provide a comprehensive structure on the low‐speed EV industry in China.

Assessing the potential of developing an ecosystem for electric scooters in Bangkok, Thailand

“…along with the main actors and other main components (e.g., investors, entrepreneurs) for the optimal development (Curiel-Ramirez et al, 2020). Lastly, business ecosystem theory by Moore (1997) which idea is an extended entreprises of mutually supportive organizations has evolved and has been adapted by many authors including Shang and Shi (2013) and Ma et al (2018). The literature review of the ecosystem framework is summarized in Table 2.…”

“…Adner and Kapoor (2010) viewed the ecosystem as a way of constructing interdependencies to be more obvious which approach is by understanding coordination between actors. In addition, analyzing ecosystems in a broader scope would be useful to evaluate the capabilities of ecosystem players as well as assess the industry (Shang & Shi, 2013). Knowing and assessing the key components of the ecosystem leads to a guide in deciding which aspect should be improved.…”

“…Differing from the business ecosystem theory which specifies a broad understanding of a business' surrounding components at the industrial level, capabilities theory tends to investigate the internal features of organizations. Subsequently, Shang & Shi (2013) defines the ecosystem framework consisted of demand capabilities, supply capabilities, interface capabilities, and supporting elements (Table 2). Business ecosystem can also be combined with innovation system theory.…”

“…This research adapted the framework from several authors and resulted in an "E-scooters Ecosystem Framework for Urban Mobility" as shown in Figure 1. The main idea came from Shang & Shi (2013) on the adoption of a business ecosystem framework. In general, there are supply capabilities, demand structure, and institution structure.…”

“…E-Scooters ecosystem in urban mobility. Author's illustration, adapted from (Meyer & Shaheen, 2017;Pütz et al, 2019;Shang & Shi, 2013;Vermesan et al, 2013).…”