Understanding digital business ecosystem partnerships and developing a method for evaluating the impact of interdependencies between entities in value co-creation

New organisational alliances such as digital business ecosystems (DBEs) have emerged in line with technological developments. DBE is a socio-technical network of digital technologies, processes, individuals and organisations that collectively co-create value. At the core of DBEs are interdependencies, which refer to interactions between entities. While some interdependencies make positive contributions to value co-creation in DBEs, others lead to inefficiencies. Thus, it is necessary to understand DBE partnerships and evaluate the impact of various interdependencies. In the extant information systems (IS) literature, there is limited understanding of DBE partnerships while approaches for evaluating the impact of interdependencies are arguably not available due to the paucity of interdependence research. Though some approaches exist, they largely focus on interdependence patterns, modelling and analysis, value exchanges and network structure at the business ecosystem level with little emphasis on measuring the impact of interdependencies. In response, this study investigates DBE partnerships and subsequently develops a method to evaluate the impact of interdependencies in value co-creation. The study conceptualises five components that are interdependence types, classes, behaviour taxonomies, entities and outcome flows as elements needed to understand the formation and behaviour of DBE partnerships. Subsequently, the study develops a Method for Evaluating the Impact of Interdependencies (MEII) in value cocreation. MEII as the main contribution of this study is a methodological solution that provides techniques to articulate DBEs’ context, identify, visualise, analyse and measure the impact of interdependencies. For validation, the study employed the case study and the expert review strategies. By explaining the formation and behaviour of DBE partnerships and developing MEII, the study makes several theoretical, methodological and practical contributions. Theoretically, the study contributes by developing MEII as a sound solution to evaluate the impact of DBE interdependencies. Also, this study propounds definitions, a notation and a kernel theory for DBE interdependencies, partnerships, interdependence classes and interdependence evaluation metrics respectively. The study also extends the theory of Organisational Semiotics by adding operational and strategic impact assessment metrics to its social valuation framing technique. Methodologically, the techniques of MEII are valuable artefacts that provide systematic processes for evaluating the impact of DBE interdependencies. Practically, the solutions to understand DBE partnerships and MEII can be useful tools for practitioners to improve value co-creation and resilience in DBEs