====== Research Plan ====== This working document outlines the plan for an article dissertation, as described in the [[http://www.tkk.fi/Yksikot/Opintotoimisto/toimikunnat/vaitoslautakunta/vaitohjeengl.htm | Instructions for Doctoral Dissertations]]. On the path to dissertation is a plan to co-author three books on innovation. These books are intended to be targeted to an audience of business practitioners, and thus are stronger on exposition, with less emphasis on theoretical contribution. In parallel with these books, three academic articles are proposed. The target for these three articles are academic journals, making them suitable for inclusion into the dissertation. In this light, the structure of the books and dissertation can be listed as follows:
Book Dissertation Articles
n/a Introduction
  • Description of the contents
n/a Philosophy of science
  • A practice-based theory of business, with foundations in systems theory.
Business Ecosystem Innovation: Unlocking the Value Chain
This publication represents the theoretical foundations and premise for conceptualizing the business in a different way.
  • A. Model: Value chain <-> Business ecosystem
  • B. Ecology: Predator-prey <-> Energizing capital
  • C. Innovating: Zoning-cloning <-> Dating-mating
  • D. Coevolving: Species <-> Interbreeding and bifurcations
  • E. Behaviour: Bigger, broader, boss <-> Faster, freer, friendlier
 Capital, ecosystems and energy
This publication approaches business ecosystems not as a metaphor, but uses systems science as a foundation, whereby some principles may be reapplied.
  • Capital: Foundations (Marx), intellectual capital (Stewart), social capital (Bourdieu), property rights (de Soto)
  • Ecosystems: Predator and prey, and death of competition (Moore); keystone advantage (Iansiti); unified ecology (Allen)
  • Energy and ecosystem ecology: Maximum power (Odum); complexity, complicatedness, collapse (Allen)
Architecting for Innovation: Coevolving the Path, Map and Territory
  • A. Introduction: Enabling innovation by architecting the business
  • B. Path: (Autonomous now <- Ideal future) <-> Interdependent now -> Shared milestones
  • C. Map
    • 1. Innovating Why
    • 2. Innovating What
    • 3. Innovating Who-How
    • 4. Innovating Where-When
  • D. Territory: Managing projects <-> Governing programs <-> Energing capital
 Inter-organizational relationships: Management, governance and capital
  • Inter-organizational relationships (or alliances) in an era of business ecosystems
  • Milestones rather than ends (Trist, in contrast to Ackoff)
  • Business architecture (Zachman)
Firestarting: Patterns of Business Ecosystem Innovation
This publication describes pattens of innovation, without passing judgement about whether one might be better than another.
  • A. Introduction: Enabling innovation by architecting the business
  • 01: Introduction – Innovating as Firestarting
  • 02: Lightning Rod (Egocentric)
  • 03: Furnance Room (Ethnocentric)
  • 04: Signal Flare (Polycentric)
  • 05: Torch Relay (Geocentric)
  • 06: Sawdust-wax Firelog (Heterarchical)
  • 07: Park Barbeques (Non-centric)
  • 08: Stolen Fire (Promethean)
  • 09: Underburn (Ecosystemic)
  • 10: Firestarting That Works
 Mesostructural patterns of innovation
  • Contrasting invention-diffusion to legitimation-disclosing
  • Egocentric (Hawk); ethnocentric, polycentric, geocentric (Perlmutter); heterarchical (Hedlund); non-centric (Hawk); promethean, ecosystemic (Ing)
Applications of these theories is expected in client consulting work, that may produce more examples to be used as field studies. The timing of these consulting engagements may be problematic with the development of content.