Ecosystem creation under high uncertainty – a longitudinal analysis of the alignment process

Sustainability-oriented innovation increasingly materializes through business ecosystem. To create value, business ecosystems rely on complementary inputs made by interconnected, yet independent actors. Ecosystem research has highlighted the role of the central actor (aka keystone) to coordinate the different interdependent actors. It also discusses tensions that the keystone has to deal with in order to reach alignment. Research often focuses on business ecosystems that are based on digital platforms. These ecosystems are characterised by a high flexibility and adaptive capacity. Little research looked at business ecosystems that are based on technological infrastructure that are asset-heavy and prone to technological lock-in. This article proposes to analyse how alignment is reached and maintained in ecosystems that require the development of an asset-heavy technological infrastructure. We inquiry into which are the tensions inherent to asset-heavy ecosystems and how these tensions are tackled. We do that by conducting a longitudinal analysis of a business ecosystem aiming to deploy an infrastructure of green hydrogen refuelling stations in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, France. Analysis is based on 34 interviews conducted over an 18 month period. The paper contributes to the growing literature on business ecosystems. Results show that reaching and maintaining alignment requires being able to cope with three tensions and discuss eight strategies that the keystone mobilised to do so. We associate each of these tensions to different key moments of ecosystem formation.