Key or Else: Critical Success Factors of Digital Ecosystems in the Road Transport Industry

Purpose: This research paper aims to analyze, identify, and rank critical success factors (CSFs) of digital ecosystems within the road transport industry. The purpose of this study is to identify and evaluate CSFs from a literature review and then to validate these through a structured questionnaire survey to find out which of these are the most critical ones. Methodology: The methodology encompasses an international quantitative survey among customers of Europe’s freight exchange market leader TIMOCOM. The study measures both the active influence and passive influence-ability of the success factors and presents them in a clear model, a four-quadrant active-passive grid to rank and display the factors into the most and less critical ones. Findings: The findings based on more than 400 responses selected the following 11 as the most important CSFs: Usability, Trust, Security, Customer orientation, and Value added services, Partnerships, Network, Internationality, Quality, Innovations, and Technology. The remaining 10 factors were rated low: Customer service, pricing and payment, staff members, cost reduction, owner, marketing and sales, transparency, culture, neutrality, and last but not least sustainability. Unique Contributor to Theory, Policy, and Practice: The unique contribution of this quantitative, Europe-wide study to theory, policy, and practice lies thus not only in the identification and the visualization of the most and less important CSFs of a digital ecosystem but also in gaining important valuable insights into their further development in the road freight industry. Finally, this paper offers several strategic and operational implications and recommended actions for the future of digital ecosystems. Theoretical insights underline usability as the most critical success factor, while practical recommendations include creating all-in-one solutions, enhancing value-added services, and addressing user concerns about data security and platform control.