Toward a Framework of Innovation Ecosystem Performance

Abstract

The ability of innovation ecosystems to deliver desired economic output, particularly under conditions of uncertainty shaped by market shifts, competitive change, and regulatory pressure, concerns all ecosystem stakeholders. Understanding innovation ecosystem performance, therefore, emerges as an important topic for scholars, managers, and policymakers. The objective of this article is to propose a conceptual framework of ecosystem performance that builds on the inherent connection between system-level outcomes and the performance of all components that constitute the ecosystem. To this end, we apply a socio-technical lens to identify performance-deficient social or technical components known as “reverse salient” that influence the performance of the ecosystem as a whole. Our case study of a regional Australian food innovation ecosystem identifies numerous reverse salients that inhibit ecosystem performance as the system transitions from its current focus on high-quality produce to a future state characterized by increased output capacity and value-added offerings. We categorize these reverse salients as those associated with “actors” in the ecosystem, “connections” between actors, and “resources” flowing among them. While these categories align with the ecosystem-as-structure perspective, our findings additionally underscore the moderating role of ecosystem “leadership” and “rules of engagement” that can themselves act as reverse salients when misaligned. We present a conceptual model that integrates these insights and offer a set of propositions to guide future empirical research.