Evolution of a service ecosystem: Longitudinal evidence from multiple shared services centers based on the economies of worth framework

This article proposes a theoretical model of the evolution of a service ecosystem by relying on the longitudinal analysis of the relationships between five shared services centers (SSCs) and their internal clients. Based on the economies of worth framework (Boltanski & Thévenot, 2006), we find that after the introduction of a service platform, service ecosystems evolve and alternate between phases of tensions and phases of solutions where each new agreement between the actors of the service ecosystem becomes increasingly stable. Throughout these phases, the actors of the service ecosystem switch from a goods-dominant logic to a transitional logic and finally to a service-dominant logic. The actors of the service ecosystem are initially oriented towards dyadic-dominant relationships, but later move to triadic-dominant relationships, until all the actors of the complex network directly or indirectly interact with one another.