The Fuel-cell Trucks Ecosystem - Identifying change and strategizing in emerging ecosystem

Abstract: With the goal to reduce global greenhouse-gas emissions and transportation being a major reason for these emissions, new transportation solutions are needed. One solution is the use of fuel-cell trucks that are powered by hydrogen which are embedded in a young ecosystem. The purpose of this paper is to explore the perception of the fuel-cell truck ecosystem from the participants within it, and how they can identify changes and act strategically to be successful. The literature review covered the business ecosystems and their characteristics, identifying roles, mapping an ecosystem, and a framework on how to shape an ecosystem, including the consideration of risk and standards. The qualitative methodology of this research was combined with an abductive approach, while interviews were performed as the main source for data collection. The selected interviewees are experts in their fields and represent different industries in the ecosystem. With a case study research design being used, the interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis. Our results show that the fuel-cell truck ecosystem is in between the birth and expansion stage, with not all value propositions being fully developed. All characteristics of an ecosystem are fulfilled, but the borders are blurry, roles unclear and the need for collaboration for value co-creation is high. Ecosystem participants perceive the close neighbors in their value chain as more important and seem to act without an ecosystem strategy. Generally, it can be summarized that participants wish for more collaboration, but not doing it enough by themselves. In an emerging ecosystem, our proposed strategic framework can help to enhance the ecosystem growth through collaboration with complementors, while identifying components that create competition benefits.