战略生态(1)

DDOONNOOTTCCOOPPYY’tworkwhenyourcompany’ssuccessdependsonthecollectivehealthoftheorganizationsthatinfluencethecreationanddeliveryofyourproduct.Knowingwhattodorequiresunderstandingtheecosystemandyourorganization’sroleinit.Repr[e-mail]617.783.7860DDOONNOOTTCCOOPPYYStrategyasEcologybyMarcoIansitiandRoyLevienharvardbusinessreview•march2004page1COPYRIGHT©2004HARVARDBUSINESSSCHOOLPUBLISHINGCORPORATION.ALLRIGHTSRESERVED.Stand-alonestrategiesdon’tworkwhenyourcompany’ssuccessdependsonthecollectivehealthoftheorganizationsthatinfluencethecreationanddeliveryofyourproduct.Knowingwhattodorequiresunderstandingtheecosystemandyourorganization’sroleinit.Wal-Mart’sandMicrosoft’sdominanceinmodernbusinesshasbeenattributedtoanynumberoffactors,rangingfromthevisionanddriveoftheirfounderstothecompanies’aggressivecompetitivepractices.Buttheper-formanceofthesetwoverydifferentfirmsde-rivesfromsomethingthatismuchlargerthanthecompaniesthemselves:thesuccessoftheirrespectivebusinessecosystems.Theseloosenetworks—ofsuppliers,distributors,out-sourcingfirms,makersofrelatedproductsorservices,technologyproviders,andahostofotherorganizations—affect,andareaffectedby,thecreationanddeliveryofacompany’sownofferings.Likeanindividualspeciesinabiologicalec-osystem,eachmemberofabusinessecosystemultimatelysharesthefateofthenetworkasawhole,regardlessofthatmember’sapparentstrength.Fromtheirearliestdays,Wal-MartandMicrosoft—unlikecompaniesthatfocusprimarilyontheirinternalcapabilities—haverealizedthisandpursuedstrategiesthatnotonlyaggressivelyfurthertheirowninterestsbutalsopromotetheirecosystems’overallhealth.Theyhavedonethisbycreating“plat-forms”—services,tools,ortechnologies—thatothermembersoftheecosystemcanusetoen-hancetheirownperformance.Wal-Mart’spro-curementsystemoffersitssuppliersinvaluablereal-timeinformationoncustomerdemandandpreferences,whileprovidingtheretailerwithasignificantcostadvantageoveritscom-petitors.(ForabreakdownofhowWal-Mart’snetworkstrategycontributestothisadvan-tage,seetheexhibit“TheEcosystemEdge.”)Microsoft’stoolsandtechnologiesallowsoft-warecompaniestoeasilycreateprogramsforthewidespreadWindowsoperatingsystem—programsthat,inturn,provideMicrosoftwithasteadystreamofnewWindowsapplications.Inbothcases,thesesymbioticrelationshipsul-timatelyhavebenefitedconsumers—Wal-Mart’sgotqualitygoodsatlowerprices,andMicrosoft’sgotawidearrayofnewcomputingfeatures—andgavethefirms’ecosystemsacol-lectiveadvantageovercompeting[e-mail]617.783.7860DDOONNOOTTCCOOPPYYStrategyasEcologyharvardbusinessreview•march2004page2MarcoIansitiistheDavidSarnoffProfessorofBusinessAdministrationatHarvardBusinessSchoolinBoston.RoyLevienisthemanagerandaprincipalatKeystoneAdvantage,atechnologyconsultancyinLexington,Massachusetts.TheyaretheauthorsofTheKeystoneAdvantage:WhattheNewDynamicsofBusinessEco-systemsMeanforStrategy,Innova-tion,andSustainability(HarvardBusi-nessSchoolPress,2004).Theauthorshavehadconsultingrelationshipswithseve[e-mail];[e-mail],thecompaniesintheecosystemsmadeinvestmentstoleveragetheirrelation-shipsandbegantodependonWal-MartandMicrosoftfortheirownsuccess.Forexample,Procter&GambleintegrateditsERPsystemwithWal-Mart’s,andAutoCadintegratedMi-crosoft’sprogrammingcomponentsintoitsap-plications.AlthoughWal-MartandMicrosofthavebeencriticizedforbeingtoughontheirbusinesspartners,thecomplexinterdependen-ciesamongcompaniesthattheseindustrygi-antsencouragedhavemadetheirbusinessnet-worksunusuallyproductiveandinnovative—andallowedthetwocompaniestoenjoysus-tainedsuperiorperformance.Eachoftheseec-osystemstodaynumbersthousandsoffirmsandmillionsofpeople,givingthemascalemanyordersofmagnitudelargerthanthecompaniesthemselvesandanadvantageoversmaller,competingecosystems.AlthoughWal-MartandMicrosofthavebeenastonishinglysuccessfulinorganizingandorchestratingtheirvastbusinessnetworks,theirtwoecosystemsaren’tanomalies.Mostcompaniestodayinhabitecosystemsthatex-tendbeyondtheboundariesoftheirownin-dustries.Themovesthatacompanymakeswill,tovaryingdegrees,affectitsbusinessnet-work’shealth,whichinturnwillultimatelyaf-fectthecompany’sperformance—forillaswellasforgood.Butdespitebeingincreasinglycentraltomodernbusiness,ecosystemsarestillpoorlyunderstoodandevenmorepoorlymanaged.Weofferaframeworkhereforas-sessingthehealthofyourcompany’secosys-tem,determiningyourplaceinit,anddevelop-ingastrategytomatchyourrole.WhatIsaBusinessEcosystem?Considertheworldaroundus.Dozensoforga-nizationscollaborateacrossindustriestobringelectricityintoourhomes.Hundredsoforganizationsjoinforcestomanufactureanddistributeasinglepersonalcomputer.Thou-sandsofcompaniescoordinatetoprovidetherichfoundationofapplicationsnecessarytomakeasoftwareoperatingsystemsuccessful.Manyoftheseorganizationsfalloutside