Emergence and phase transitions in service ecosystems

Abstract Service ecosystems provide a valuable perspective for exploring value co-creation, as they offer a relevant context to study dynamic resource integration processes. Although recent literature considers service ecosystem dynamics, little research concurrently addresses two key drivers of it: emergence and phase transitions. These two phenomena are often confused and frequently co-exist, with phase transitions necessarily involving emergence. Drawing on meta-theoretical foundations of service-dominant logic and systems theory, this conceptual paper synthesizes and extends knowledge of emergence and phase transitions in service ecosystems, including proposed new definitions. To achieve these aims, first the conditions where phase transitions and emergence exist or co-exist are identified, and second, key features, triggers, processes and outcomes are compared and contrasted. A conceptual framework illustrates how emergence and phase transition, together and separately, impact service ecosystem dynamics. In addition to the theoretical contribution, our work can assist managers discern, navigate and harness these phenomena by adopting non-predictive approaches such as effectuation and environmental scanning. Promising future research topics are also proposed.