區塊鏈數位生態系統設計之關鍵多數實現程度評量 - 政大學術集成

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(1)國立政治大學資訊管理學系. 碩士學位論文指導教授:苑守慈博士. 立. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. 區塊鏈數位生態系統設計之關鍵多數實現程度. ‧. 評量. sit. y. Nat. er. io. Estimate the Fulfillment of Critical Mass within. n. a. v. l C Digital Ecosystem Blockchain-Based Design ni. hengchi U. 研究生：石文昕中華民國 106 年 08 月. 1.

(2) Estimate the Fulfillment of Critical Mass within BlockchainBased Digital Ecosystem Design 區塊鏈數位生態系統設計之關鍵多數實現程度評量 by. Wen-Xin Shih. A Dissertation Submitted in Total Fulfillment of. 立. 政治大. the Requirement for the Degree of. ‧ 國. 學. Master of Science. in. ‧. Management information Systems. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. n. Supervisor: Soe-Tysr Yuan, Professor, MIS, NCCU. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Department of Management Information Systems. NATIONAL CHENGCHI UNIVERSITY. August 2017. © Wen-Xin Shih 2017. 2.

(3) 謝辭隨著研究論文完成，畢業的腳步一步步逼近，意味著二十三年的求學生涯即將畫上句點。隻身北上與教授會面的回憶歷歷在目，這兩年最要感謝的是願意成為我指導教授的苑老師，感謝老師接納與包容不懂服務科學，憑著一股熱情便逕自投入服科研究的我；碩一開始藉由 paper reading、修習相關課程，扎實有條理地帶領我們用不同角度了解服科；在研究的過程中，老師給予我們很大的發揮空間，透過不斷地耐心地討論讓我們自己思考問題的解答，在老師的循循善誘以及專業的帶領下，我才得以完成今日的學業。能進入 SSRC 成為老. 政治大其次要感謝在課程中合作、在生活中互相扶持，一同創造兩年美好回憶的立. 師退休前最後一批指導的學生，我覺得自己真的很幸運，也感到非常榮幸。. ‧ 國. 學. 同學們，特別是 SSRC 的每個成員都在研究專案中扮演重要的角色；柏緯的負責與細心讓我們在遇到困難與意見相左時，能以較理性的方式找到平衡點，除. ‧. 了技術上的支援，更帶領我們持續推動專案進行與扮演組內溝通的重要角色，. sit. y. Nat. 也謝謝柏緯在研究與生活中都給予我許多協助，成為我研究所這兩年最重要的. al. er. io. 好夥伴；閎中於技術面的專業與開朗的個性，不僅在專案中扮演重要的開發人. v. n. 員，也時常與我討論研究相關問題，更是在高壓環境下幫我們排憂解悶的好幫. Ch. engchi. i n U. 手；建佑則是個心細的人，謝謝他讓 BlockFarm 有個可愛舒適的介面，並幫我們處理了許多行政上的瑣碎事物；另外要特別感謝惟棣在問卷分析與研究統計方面給予我許多的幫助；和時常鼓勵我，陪我聊天解悶的惠宸，在我遇到挫折與衝突的當下給我建議和支持；以及所有協助我們完成研究的受測者和同學們，謝謝大家包容我們尚不成熟的系統，用心地給予我們許多建議及回饋，讓我們得以瞭解不足並予以改進，在專案中學習到非常多難得且寶貴的經驗。最後要謝謝我的家人們，支持我所有決定與提供我所需一切資源，即便心中有著許多不捨與擔憂，仍然信任我讓我追逐自己的夢想，謝謝你們成就了今日的我，下一個階段的開始，我會更努力成為讓你們感到驕傲的人。. 3.

(4) 摘要區塊鏈是一種高可行性的基礎建設技術，不僅能提高效率、降低建設成本，其交易透明化和避免篡改等特性更使之得以被廣泛應用。由於資訊科技蓬勃發展，互聯網革命伴隨著客戶主導邏輯的興起，平台思維對於服務設計而言早已不敷使用。因此，區塊鏈數位生態系統將成為下一代服務設計的解決方案，強調生態系統中利益相關者的價值共創欲目標追求。以現況而言，仍有許多服務無法在現實中發展或得以維持，網路效應的影響在數位環境中是極為強大且不容忽視的。我們的研究旨在由此出發衡量區塊. 政治大和網絡效應水平的大小，來瞭解其設計的可適應性與競爭力，這是一個數位生立. 鏈數位生態系統的成敗。我們提出的方法能使設計師基於理解關鍵多數的實現. ‧ 國. 學. 態系統能否突破真空的關鍵。此方法還提供如何提升設計的指南，使服務設計能更有機會地進入網路效應的爆炸階段。. ‧. n. al. er. io. sit. y. Nat. 關鍵字：數位生態系統、關鍵多數、網路效應、區塊鏈、服務設計. Ch. engchi. 4. i n U. v.

(5) Abstract. Blockchain is an infrastructure technology not only restricted to the financial industry, but also feasible and affordable to facilitating the operation of service provision with efficiency, lower construction cost, information transparency and nonfalsified characteristics. By virtue of the information technology booms swiftly, the revolution which Internet brings about, accompanies with the rise of customerdominant logic, platform thinking is no longer sufficient for the service design.. 政治大 generation’s service design立 aspect which stresses on value co-creation among all the. Consequently, blockchain-based digital ecosystem becomes a solution of the next. ‧ 國. 學. stakeholders of the ecosystem and proceeds to the same proposition. However, there are many service provisions unable to launch or sustain in reality.. ‧. The network externality of the Internet is the most powerful, indispensable and. sit. y. Nat. un-negligible effect in the digital environment. Our study aims to estimate and measure. n. al. er. io. the success or failure of blockchain-based digital ecosystems from this perspective. We. i n U. v. proposes a method which enables blockchain-based digital ecosystem designers to. Ch. engchi. comprehend with the adaptability and competitiveness of the fulfillment of the critical mass and the examination of network effect level. They are crucial to pass through the vacuum stage of ecosystem lifetime. The method also provides guides about how to improve the designs in order to have a greater opportunity to get into the explosion stage of ecosystem lifetime.. Keywords: Digital Ecosystem, Critical Mass, Network Effect, Blockchain, Destination. 5.

(6) Table of Content Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION.................................................................................. 10 1.1 Background and Motivation .......................................................................... 10 1.2 Research Question ......................................................................................... 12 1.3 Research Method ........................................................................................... 14 1.4 Purpose and Contribution .............................................................................. 16 1.5 Content Organization ..................................................................................... 17 Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................................... 18 2.1 Blockchain Technology.................................................................................. 18 2.2 Critical Mass .................................................................................................. 20 2.3 Network Effect Level ..................................................................................... 22. 政治大. Chapter 3 D3 ACCELERATOR SYSTEM ............................................................ 25. 立. ‧ 國. 學. 3.1 The Conceptual Framework of D3 Accelerator .............................................. 25 3.2 The System Architecture of D3 Accelerator ................................................... 28 3.3 The System Flow of D3 Accelerator .............................................................. 29 Chapter 4 METHODOLOGY ................................................................................ 32. ‧. y. Nat. 4.1 Conceptual Framework .................................................................................. 32 4.2 System Architecture ....................................................................................... 36. sit. n. al. er. io. 4.3 Arising Level of Network Effect Factors’ Testing Module ............................ 40 4.3.1 Completeness of Operant Configuration ............................................ 41 4.3.2 Degree of Operant Empowerment ...................................................... 43 4.3.3 Operation Flow of Linkware Design .................................................. 44 4.4 Fulfillment of Critical Mass Module ............................................................. 45 4.4.1 Digital Ecosystem Situation Analysis ................................................. 45 4.4.2 Measurement of Negative Effect ........................................................ 45 4.4.3 Fulfillment Calculation of Critical Mass ............................................ 46 4.4.4 Adjustment of Methodology and Conclusion ..................................... 47. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Chapter 5 APPLICATION AND SCENARIO ...................................................... 48 Chapter 6 EVALUATION ....................................................................................... 59 6.1 Propositions.................................................................................................... 59 6.2 Experiment Simulations ................................................................................. 60 6.3 Questionnaire Design ..................................................................................... 63 6.4 Assumptions ................................................................................................... 65 6.5 Experiments of Observational Field Study .................................................... 65 6.

(7) 6.6 Measurements and Data Collection ............................................................... 68 6.6.1 Measurement of Critical Mass ............................................................ 68 6.6.2 Supervisory of Interaction between D3 Accelerator Assistant Module ...................................................................................................................... 71 6.7 Result of Field Test ........................................................................................ 72 6.7.1 Effect of Field Test and System Improvement .................................... 72 6.7.2 Assistant Module’s Result of System Improvement ........................... 74 6.7.3 Correlation Verification within Assistant Module .............................. 77 6.7.4 Result of Arising Level of Network Effect Factors ............................ 81 6.7.5 Result of Fulfillment of Critical Mass ................................................ 83 6.7.6 Certification of Fulfillment of Critical Mass ...................................... 85 6.7.7 Correlation of Fulfillment of Critical Mass and the Assistant Module ...................................................................................................................... 86. 政治大. Chapter 7 CONCLUSION ...................................................................................... 88. 立. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. 7.1 Academic Contribution .................................................................................. 88 7.1.1 Propositions......................................................................................... 89 7.2 Findings and Discussion ................................................................................ 90 7.3 Managerial Implications ................................................................................ 92 7.3.1 Case Study of BlockFarm ................................................................... 93 7.4 Limitations and Future work .......................................................................... 94. y. Nat. io. sit. REFERENCES ........................................................................................................... 95. n. al. er. APPENDIX ............................................................................................................... 102. Ch. engchi. 7. i n U. v.

(8) List of Figures. Figure 1.1 Design Thinking of Digital Ecosystem ...................................................... 12 Figure 2.1 Searching trends of keyword ‘Blockchain’ on Google Trends. .................. 19 Figure 2.2 The economy without network effect ......................................................... 21 Figure 2.3 The economy with network effect. ............................................................. 21 Figure 4.1 Conceptual Framework of D3 Accelerator ................................................. 32 Figure 4.2 System Architecture.................................................................................... 37. 政治大 Figure 4.3 Relationship between Assistant Module and Network Effect .................... 41 立 Figure 4.2.1 Digital Ecosystem Development with Network Effect ........................... 40. Figure 5.1 Blockchain-based Farming Game .............................................................. 50. ‧ 國. 學. Figure 5.8 Set up Rating for Transaction ..................................................................... 56. ‧. Figure 5.9 Questionnaire of BlockFarm ...................................................................... 57. y. Nat. Figure 6.2.1 Result on Google Trend of “Problem in the world” ................................ 60. er. io. sit. Figure 6.2.2 Result on Google Trend of “Better world” .............................................. 62 Figure 6.2.3 Design Thinking Process of BlockFarm.................................................. 62. al. n. v i n C hof Empowerment............................................... Figure 6.5.1 Conceptual Framework 67 engchi U Figure 6.6.2.1 Correlation between D3 Accelerator Assistant Module ........................ 72 Figure 6.7.1 Feedback received from BlockFarm users .............................................. 73 Figure 6.7.2 Questionnaire Result of Operant Configuration ...................................... 75 Figure 6.7.3 Questionnaire Result of Operant Empowerment ..................................... 75 Figure 6.7.4 Questionnaire Result of Operant Flow .................................................... 76 Figure 6.7.5 Computing Outcome of D3 Accelerator Assistant Module...................... 77 Figure 6.7.6 Average of Questionnaire of D3 Accelerator Assistant Module .............. 77 Figure 6.7.7 Comparison of Computing Outcome of Assistant Module ..................... 80 Figure 6.7.8 Comparison of Questionnaire Outcome of Assistant Module ................. 80 8.

(9) Figure 6.7.9 Comparison of Computing and Questionnaire Outcome ........................ 81 Figure 6.7.10 Initial Arising Level of Network Effect Factors .................................... 82 Figure 6.7.11 Arising Level of Network Effect Factors after System Improved ......... 82 Figure 6.7.12 Initial Fulfillment of Critical Mass ........................................................ 84 Figure 6.7.13 Fulfillment of Critical Mass after System Improved ............................. 84 Figure 6.7.14 Questionnaire Result of Critical Mass ................................................... 85 Figure 6.7.15 System Improvement Result of the Same Group of Subject ................. 87. 政治大. List of Tables. 立. Table 3.1 Comparisons between PDL and CDL .......................................................... 27. ‧ 國. 學 ‧. List of Formula. sit. y. Nat. io. er. Formula 4.4.1 Arising Level of Network Effect Factors ............................................. 42 Formula 4.4.2 The Function of the Fulfillment of Critical Mass ................................. 47. n. al. Ch. engchi. 9. i n U. v.

(10) Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION. 1.1 Background and Motivation. In the last decade we still talked about building a platform for your service, however, platform thinking is not completed enough to sustain the novel service nowadays. Digital disruption, which been come up with in 2015, is a process as the business world is rapidly digitizing, breaking down industry barriers and creating new. 政治大 2015). For instance, Uber, Airbnb, FordPass, they all created its new digital business 立 opportunities while destroying long-successful business models (Weill & Woerner,. models and subverted the value exchange that we have been impressed for a long time. ‧ 國. 學. ago. With the flourishing of technology, it becomes a trend that is irreversible. And we. er. io. sit. y. Nat. thinking.. ‧. believe this kind of transformation can happen in every industry based on the ecosystem. Ecosystem, which is component of living organisms and also the nonliving. al. n. v i n C its constituents of environment, has interacting mechanism and is also a selfh eown ngchi U sustainable system. The concept of ecosystem highly catches the public’s attention not only in the biological community, but also the commercial community. Digital ecosystems transcend the traditional, rigorously defined, collaborative environments from centralized, distributed or hybrid models into an open, flexible, domain cluster, demand-driven, interactive environment (Boley & Chang, 2007). At present, there are some businesses designing or already provided service like a digital ecosystem, such as Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Ford. With the spectacular service ecosystems and the new service options created by those business, it is time for every business to think about the trend of building a digital ecosystem. 10.

(11) While having a concept of designing a service digital ecosystem is not enough to launch successfully and become a gorgeous business that is able to be considered as a destination. Destinations are regarded as well-defined geographical areas before; nevertheless, the concept of destination is also seen as the perceptual notions that can be interpreted by the participants subjectively (Buhalis, 2000). The same as the digital ecosystem, participants share the common consensus of the ecosystem and identify it with most of the other would become a destination.. 政治大 between customers who are attracted to the platform at least in part by network 立. Due to platform businesses add value by facilitating interaction of various sorts. externalities (Evans & Schmalensee, 2010). The reason why to reach the critical mass. ‧ 國. 學. is owing to what previous research had mentioned. If the costs vary little with group. ‧. size, larger groups should exhibit more collective action than smaller ones because. sit. y. Nat. larger groups have more resources and are more likely to have a critical mass of highly. io. er. interested and resourceful actors (Oliver & Marwell, 1988). Reaching the critical mass, which means to have the ability to cause the network effects, is the basic requirement. n. al. Ch. of being a destination of digital ecosystem.. engchi. 11. i n U. v.

(12) 1.2 Research Question. Collective action usually depends on a "critical mass" that behaves differently from typical group members. Sometimes the critical mass provides some level of the good for others who do nothing, while at other times the critical mass pays the start-up costs and induces widespread collective action (Oliver, Marwell & Teixeira, 1985). From the point of view, we believe that critical mass is an end point of a phase equilibrium curve, that can be viewed as a critical point going to explode an exponential. 政治大 The fulfillment of critical mass is correlation to the probability of reaching 立. growth of the participants.. exploded stage of the designed ecosystem. To realize the measurement of critical mass,. ‧ 國. 學. we consider the destination of digital ecosystem design based on the Customer-Domain. ‧. Logic and the de-centralized concept of blockchain, which can provide a cheaper, less. sit. y. Nat. preparation, and efficient infrastructure to build the digital ecosystem. Then, we put. io. er. forward a research model constructed with three dimensions: Operant, Operation, and Empowerment, that are related to the design thinking of digital ecosystem. (Figure 1.1). n. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Figure 1.1 Design Thinking of Digital Ecosystem . Operant: Measure the share of voice in each domain to inspire service designers to sketch out the stakeholders of digital ecosystem.. . Empowerment: To enhance the motivation of participants co-creating in the digital 12.

(13) ecosystem, enhance the feasibility of empowerment strategies, and make sure all operants are beneficial and necessary. . Operation: Confirm the digital ecosystem design provide a smooth, unhindered, effortless service procedure by designing a linkware towards flow experience.. As each dimension that has be mentioned above, we have come up with our research questions as below:. 1.. 政治大. “What are the meanings of the score of each dimension, can they lead to the. critical mass?”. 立. ‧ 國. 學. The first research question is for connecting three dimensions and the critical mass,. ‧. also defining how the information can help service designers to do their digital. sit. y. Nat. ecosystem design. The dimension of operant is the first step for designing a digital. io. er. ecosystem that is performed by the blockchain technology. Besides, empowerment is fundamentally a motivational process by which an individual experiences a sense of. al. n. v i n C hresearch providesUan understanding of experiences enablement (Yagil, 2006). And flow engchi during which individuals are fully involved in the present moment, that constitutes a good life (Nakamura & Csikszentmihalyi, 2014). On account of those concepts above and the Customer-Domain Logic, differ from Service-Domain Logic, user’s willingness to be the participant of digital ecosystem is somehow interconnected to the empowerment degree and the flow experience. The connection between critical mass and those dimensions is what our research is going to find out.. 13.

(14) 2.. “What are the relationship between fulfillment of three dimensions and the critical. mass of the digital ecosystem?”. In the time with the widespread Internet, which is developed by the telecommunication, the power of effect it caused is so immense that we even can not neglect it. According to the literature, telecommunication services are distinctive in that their adoptions are influenced by network effect resulting in the late take-off phenomenon and the critical mass problem (Lim, Choi & Park, 2003). We believe that. 政治大 ecosystem reaches the critical mass. Furthermore, that is the foundation of our second 立 it is able to cause the network effect in the world of the Internet while the digital. research question, which is going to talk the problem of relations between those. ‧ 國. 學. dimensions and the network effect over. Based on our research, digital ecosystem. sit. n. al. er. io. 1.3 Research Method. y. Nat. well.. ‧. designers can take the network effect into account without complicated computing as. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. As we have known, there are only few of businesses have the sense of building a destination of digital ecosystem. For the purpose of filling up the gap between the supply and demand, we intend to propose an ecosystem design assistance system, which is based on the blockchain technology, aims at achieving a better world of stabilize supply-demand equilibrium. Our value proposition will be realized in building a service design system, which is called D3 Accelerator which D3 represent the Destination of De-centralized Digital ecosystem, and develop a useful, thoughtful, and valuable system.. 14.

(15) Our system is constructed with four major modules, which is Operant Module, Empowerment Module, Operation Module, and Verification Module. First of all, the Operant Module analyze the value supplier’s share of voice based on the value proposition and inspire ecosystem designers to do the value design. Then to weight the completeness of the designed ecosystem by measuring the service desirability, service disruption, and smart contract consistence. Next is the Empowerment Module, this module examines the operants and entities of the designed ecosystem by the proposed AIA model and its sub-modules: Service. 政治大 can help designers to come up with an appropriate empowerment strategy rely on the 立. Operant Evaluation Module and Service Operant Analysis Module. The examinations. assay of operant ability, operant intention, and resource availability.. ‧ 國. 學. The third one, the Operation Module, provides an implement which named as. ‧. Flow Experience Maximization System for designers to optimize their service. sit. y. Nat. procedure and the user experience. Realized by four sub-modules: Measurement. io. er. Module, Linkware Design Module, Resource and Pattern Management Module, and Aided Design Module, in order to achieve the goal of maximum flow experience of the. n. al. designed ecosystem.. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. The last but not least, the Fulfillment Testing Module, which high level the vision to arrange the network effect caused by other module with the concept of Nash Equilibrium. In addition, to testify that the outcome of the system is qualified to reach the critical mass and grow into a prosperous, and self-sustainable ecosystem. That would help designers recognize the gap between design and reality, and to accomplish the prospect desired as well.. 15.

(16) 1.4 Purpose and Contribution. Digital ecosystem designers can devise a service ecosystem that is corresponds to the demand of the market and is sustainable in reality through our D3 Accelerator system. This research will be concentrated on the Verification Module that has be mentioned above. Without the Verification Module, designers can not be sure whether their design is qualified to realize or to survive, whether the situation in each dimension is sufficient or not, whether the design has the opportunity to become the killer. 政治大 Shorten the gap between the design and the reality. 立. application. The following shows the contribution of this research:. 2.. Make sure the variations of each dimension will not cause any negative effect in the digital ecosystem design.. Fulfill the digital ecosystem design pattern implemented by blockchain into. ‧. 3.. 學. ‧ 國. 1.. er. io. sit. y. Nat. a factual service architecture.. In order to make the digital ecosystem design more feasible to be launched, the. al. n. v i n CNash Verification Module consider the of economics, putting the concept h eEquilibrium ngchi U of cost and effect in the module. We expect to provide a concise, effortless guideline. for service designers to make use of, for the entrepreneurs to reorganize their business, and for all service can gaining ground as well.. 16.

(17) 1.5 Content Organization. First of all, we will talk about the concept of digital ecosystem and the briefly elaborate the decentralized blockchain value in Chapter one. The importance of the customer-domain logic and why our research will base on it. Besides, our research motivations, research inquiries, research methods, research intentions, research contributions, and the content organization will all be described in this chapter as well. Next in the literature review of Chapter two, we are going to introduce the previous. 政治大 Also, the architecture of. research, that is related to the concept of destination of digital ecosystem and the decentralized blockchain value.. 立. destination of digital. ecosystem, and the measurement of being a destination. The principles and the. ‧ 國. 學. construction of our research are developed and based on those literatures.. ‧. The third comes to Chapter three, in this chapter, we will display the whole. io. er. procedure, briefly introduce the modules of our system.. sit. y. Nat. framework of our system, D3 Accelerator. Show the system architecture and the using. The forth is Chapter four, the complete system portray will be illustrated in this. al. n. v i n Ch chapter, including conceptual framework, system architecture, system modules, and engchi U algorithms. The entire mechanism of our system will be described as well.. The fifth in Chapter five, we simply give an application scenario to show how our system works, in order to make readers more comprehensive to our system and to provide our system’s value to them. The sixth in Chapter six, we illustrate the implementation and questionnaire result of our project, so as to verify the proposed theory of our research. The last in Chapter seven, we conclude our research and simply summarize the ambition and contribution of our research.. 17.

(18) Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW. Unlike products or services that are managed, the evolution of ecosystems and their myriad participants must be orchestrated through a thoughtful alignment of architecture and governance (Tiwana, 2013). Therefore, we proposed a governance mechanism with measurements for designing a destination of decentralized digital ecosystem based on the blockchain architecture. The followings are the relevant literatures.. 2.1 Blockchain Technology. 立. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. Blockchain is an innovative technology that is popular discussed in recent years. ‧. (illustrated in Figure 2.1) and regarded as a blueprint for new economies. It is first. sit. y. Nat. proposed by Satoshi Nakamoto in January 2009 and accompanied with two untested. io. er. concepts: bitcoin and proof-of-work (Buterin, 2014). The former can be seen as an application of blockchain technology, and the latter is a fundamental of blockchain. n. al. Ch. technology fulfillment. Blockchain technology is. engchi. v i n affordable U. of all creations and. applications of decentralized currencies, smart contracts which are built-in selfexecuting digital contracts, and smart properties that are intelligent assets controlled over the Internet (Wright & De Filippi, 2015).. 18.

(19) Figure 2.1 Searching trends of keyword ‘Blockchain’ on Google Trends.. 政治大 Referring to the Blockchain: Blueprint for a new economy written by Swan (2015), 立. blochchain ecosystem features decentralized storage, communication, and computation.. ‧ 國. 學. It is worth mentioning that storage can be either centralized like Google Drive or. ‧. decentralized like blockchain. The blockchain transaction registers smart assets. sit. y. Nat. providing a pointer and an access method for user to choose whether to privilege for. io. er. the off-chain stored file or not. The attributes of blochchain are not only decentralized and distributed, but also immutable and transparent (Fecher, 2016), as briefed below:. al. n. v i n C h that there willUno longer have single point of Decentralization guarantees engchi. . failure. . Distributed secures the data and its copy to be stored in different devices.. . Immutability safeguards all information on blockchain from falsification.. . Transparency pledges every transaction and peer are provable to the external.. By virtue of decentralized and the concept of smart contract, blockchain envisioned the more complicated deployment of expansion, such as decentralized application (Dapp), decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), decentralized autonomous corporation (DAC), and decentralized autonomous societies (DAS). 19.

(20) The decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) is much similar to the notion of the D3 (Destination of Decentralized Digital ecosystem) in our D3 Accelerator, it is more labyrinthine than the decentralized application. It provides an agent running on blockchains for the rules that are pre-specified based on the context of smart contract and can be arranged dynamically along with the changing conditions. Fortunately, there are not only groups of smart contracts that can be operated on the blockchain and realize the ideal model of autonomous corporation, but also the functions and operation of real physical-world businesses that could be conceived on the blockchain (Swan, 2015).. 政治大 pattern that is decentralized operating without limitations based on the blockchain 立 That is, our research attempt to give assistance to service designers to fulfill a design. technology.. ‧ 國. 學 ‧. 2.2 Critical Mass. sit. y. Nat. io. er. The concept of critical mass is central to many understandings of collective actions, and the focal business in the digital ecosystem uses the term when talking about getting. al. n. v i n C h some goals (i.e., together enough resources to accomplish the focal business expresses engchi U comprehension that takes the minimum number of participants or the minimum accumulation of seed money to draw in the participation and contributions of others) (Marwell & Oliver, 1993). Network effects have a significant impact on the evolution of the market, especially in the Internet-based services. In particular, critical mass is a fundamental element due to the relevance of the growth process of these services (Arroyo-Barrigüete, Ernst, López-Sánchez, & Orero-Giménez, 2010). Nowadays, there are still many goods and services launch every month and every year, however, it is not effortless for enterprises to develop a prosperous, well-received merchandise or service. In fact, countless service providers can not create a popular service or even failure to 20.

(21) launch happened everyday, for instance, Sidecar, Prismatic, Pixable, Dine In, Quirky, and so on (Tam, 2016). Owing to every good or service provision has its lifetime, and network effect confirmed that it has absolutely impact on the service development, the differentiation as shown in Figure 2.2 and Figure 2.3 (Easley & Kleinberg, 2010). In this research, we roughly divide the digital ecosystem development lifetime into apart – the vacuum stage and the exploded stage. We define the critical point between this two stages we named it as the Critical Mass, which means the crucial number of participants has relationship. 政治大. to make the digital ecosystem been through vacuum stage and get into exploded stage.. 立. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Figure 2.2 The economy without network effect (Source: Easley & Kleinberg, 2010).. Figure 2.3 The economy with network effect (Source: Easley & Kleinberg, 2010). 21.

(22) As proposed, critical mass is a concept of meeting an equilibrium point within the ecosystem (Liebowitz & Margolis, 1995; Evans & Schmalensee, 2010). Voigt & Hinz (2015) published their research based on the same concept of equilibrium, and they measured the network effects by utilizing positive network effects and mitigating the negative ones to fulfill a stable equilibrium. Our research references their measurement, especially how to reach the equilibrium, and we find out there are two research paths to study for the digital market: one focused on pricing considerations examines what price structure to apply and whom to charge for accepting the service delivered (Jullien. 政治大 explores the effectiveness. 2005; Armstrong 2006; Eisenmann, Parker & Van Alstyne, 2006; Rysman, 2009; Chao & Derdenger 2013). Another. 立. of the intermediary’s. investment decisions (Yoo, Choudhary & Mukhopadhyay, 2002; Bakos & Katsamakas,. ‧ 國. 學. 2008; Kraemer, Hinz & Skiera, 2012), familiar to analyzing the design strategy such as. ‧. the quality of service delivery, the supporting infrastructures, and the arrangement of. sit. y. Nat. smart contract in our research foundation. We choose the first concept which focus on. io. er. pricing considerations for our measurement by virtue of the sustainability of the designed ecosystem because the price structure will influence the coordination between. al. n. v i n C social stakeholders and the subsequent enhancement (Chao & Derdenger U h e nwelfare's i h gc. 2013). Thus, our measurement positions on a reality consideration for service designers to comprehend the fulfillment of digital ecosystem design.. 2.3 Network Effect Level. Network externalities (Network effects) are a natural feature of networks (Rohlfs, 1974), which composed of humans and display like certain connections of groups. Joining a network is valuable for new participants due to other stakeholders are beneficial to the ecosystem (Rohlfs, 1974), and that is because the value from one 22.

(23) participant to other is positively affect while other joining and enlarging the network (Katz & Shapiro, 1994). In other hands, network effect has been defined as the variation in benefit, or surplus, that one participant acquires from a service when the number of other participants consuming the same kind of service changes. This has become increasingly influential in economic thought (Liebowitz & Margolis, 1995). Based on previous research, it can be divided into two types of positive network effect, direct effect and indirect effect (Katz & Shapiro, 1985). It indicated that the direct network effects are produced by a physical effect of a number of participants on. 政治大 telephone network that give rise to a positive network effect directly. 立. the quality of the service; for instance, the huge number of residence attached to the. The indirect network effects are generated deviously by the complementary. ‧ 國. 學. services or goods growth and decrease the price, as the number of users of services. ‧. increase; for examples, the application store opened the application programming. io. er. of a particular type increase (Katz & Shapiro, 1985).. sit. y. Nat. interface for developers to provide better applications as the number of mobile phones. In this research, we ponder the level of both direct and indirect network effect and. al. n. v i n C hlevel of network effect give an effective measurement. The is conceivably related to the engchi U. operation of whole network. For instance, if the externality is strong, the network effect. overshadows the standard competitive effect of entry, and the high network externalities provide the encouragement for an exclusive owner of a technology to free the license (Economides, 1996). Beside, the achievements of the organizational network spawn new conjectures about the competitive advantage of social forms of organizations relative to market-based value exchanged network (Powell 1990; Inzerilli 1990; Perrow 1993). Specifically, in the digitalized world, the participants of digital ecosystem can be thought fruitfully as composing a virtual network, giving rise to the effects that is similar to those in physical networks (Katz & Shapiro, 1985; Arthur, 1989, 1990). Thus, 23.

(24) we believe the greater the positive network effect has created, the more powerful advantage the digital ecosystem has. Referring to the measurement of network effects, previous research has proposed that network effects in two-sided markets can be measured in several ways (Kraemer, Hinz & Skiera, 2012). For instance, there are diffusion models (Gandal, Kende & Rob, 2000; Gupta, Mela & Vidal-Sanz, 2009; Chu & Manchanda 2015), vector autoregressions (Chen, Narasimhan & Zhang, 2001), choice models (Stock & Yogo, 2005; Rysman, 2009) and linear regressions (Hendel, Nevo & Ortalo-Magne, 2009;. 政治大 In order to account for the specifications of our proposed module – Destination of 立. Seamans & Zhu 2013).. Decentralized Digital-ecosystem Accelerator, we estimate the Destination Value. ‧ 國. 學. Configuration of Digital Ecosystem Entities shows in Figure 4.1 (comprise. ‧. Completeness Operant Configuration, Degree of Operant Empowerment, and. sit. y. Nat. Operation Flow of Linkware Design). The Destination Value Configuration of Digital. io. er. Ecosystem Entities ponders upon the relevance of each stakeholder, the level and influence of empowerment, also the interaction between service delivery and ecosystem. al. n. v i n C his as similar to theUconcept used by Liebowitz and participants. The conceiving logic engchi Margolis (1995), providing a method that is discussing the relationship between network participants and their willingness to pay for participation.. 24.

(25) Chapter 3 D3 ACCELERATOR SYSTEM. D3 Accelerator PROJECT. As time goes by, goods or services that provided by companies are different from those we have known before. With the rising emphasis on user experience and user interface design nowadays, customer satisfaction is no longer determined only by functionalities, but also the user experiences during service. Therefore, a fluent,. 政治大 achievements. For service designers, D Accelerator provides a model for design 立 convenient, and memorable experience become principle effect of company’s 3. reference, which is based on the Customer-Dominant logic, offer an assistance for the. ‧ 國. 學. designed service, that can press close to customer’s demands and have chance to. 3.1 The Conceptual Framework of D3 Accelerator. n. al. 3. Ch. engchi. er. io. sit. y. Nat. procedure of our integrated research project－D3 Accelerator.. ‧. achieve the critical mass. This chapter aims to describe the framework and the. i n U. v. D Accelerator is an assistant design instrument for all designers who are going to create a new service or to optimize an existing service. This instrument is built to support the designed service to become the destination of digital ecosystem in its domain and constructed with the Customer-Dominant logic in service design. First of all, different from previous researches, which are more related to the Service-Dominant logic. D3 Accelerator is sufficiently focusing on customer’s requirements and feelings rather than a company-based view. With this foundation, D3 Accelerator provides designers a useful, thoughtful, and helpful implement to devise a well-considered service. 25.

(26) . Destination: In general, destination is taken for granted that is a geographical region. It is the. first place that traveler want to visit. Destination is also defined as the focus of facilities and services designed to meet the needs of the tourists by Cooper, Fletcher, Gilbert, Shepherd and Wanhill (1998). In this paper, we use this concept of destination to describe a digital ecosystem that integrates operants and provides a series of services to meet customers’ need. We believe if a digital ecosystem is well constructed with Customer-Dominate logic, it will become the best choice of customers in that industry.. . 政治大 Customer-Dominant Logic: 立. Customer-Dominant Logic, emphasizing the primacy of customer, is a mindset. ‧ 國. 學. that can be used in business, marketing and service design. Adopting this view means. ‧. shifting the focus from how (systems of) providers involve customers in their processes. sit. y. Nat. to how customers in their ecosystems engage different types of providers. In other. io. firms provide service to customers (Heinonen, 2015).. al. er. words, emphasizing how customers embed service in their processes rather than how. n. v i n C h Logic, Service-Dominant Different from Customer-Dominant Logic emphasizes engchi U. the importance of value co-creation and customer involvement, in other words, this perspective focus on how customer can participate in the business process through the lens of service provider. Even though the SD logic has widened the scope of understanding the function of marketing, the view on SD logic is still very production. and interaction-focused, i.e. service Provider-Dominant (Provider-Dominant logic), not Customer-Dominant (CD) (Heinonen et al., 2010). On the contrary, CDL does not emphasize the interaction between the customer and the provider/market. The focus is on the key stakeholder in businesses – the customer – and how customers embed service in their processes. This is in contrast to how (multiple) providers (and other institutional 26.

(27) stakeholders) in service (eco)systems provide service to the customer, which is the basis of SDL (qtd. in Akaka et al., 2015). The following table is the difference between the mindset of Provider-Dominant logic and Customer-Dominant logic:. Table 3.1 Comparisons between PDL and CDL Provider-Dominant logic. Customer-Dominant logic. Value creation is orchestrated by the. The customer orchestrates and dominates. service provider. value formation. Value creation is defined by the service. Value formation is determined by the. provider. multiple levels. 學. ‧ 國. 立. 政治 customer 大 relative to alternatives on. Value is based on experiences of customer. of company-created value propositions. fulfillment. ‧. Value is based on customer perceptions. y. Nat. io. sit. D3 Accelerator aims to build a sustainable digital ecosystem, so as to provide a. n. al. er. one-stop service and eventually becoming the destination to every customer. CDL. i n U. v. focuses on customer logic and the customer’s constellation of activities, actors and. Ch. engchi. experiences and the role of providers in this context (Heinonen et al., 2010). After applying CDL to D3 Accelerator model, it will be a lot easier to inspect customer’s behavior, to find out the potential operants, and to have a comprehensive view on customer.. 27.

(28) 3.2 The System Architecture of D3 Accelerator. D3 Accelerator is composed of four parts that are the elements of becoming the destination of digital ecosystem. D3 Accelerator comes up with a three-dimensioned model including Stakeholder Value Configuration System, Value Network Empowering System, Linkware Flow Experience Maximization System, and a dimension of measuring the achievements – Fulfillment of Critical Mass System.. . 政治大 The first dimension puts forward candidate value activities that are best related to 立 Stakeholder Value Configuration System:. the service value proposition, also helps designers to configure their value network.. ‧ 國. 學. This system will give a service desirability score, service disruption score, and. io. er. Value Network Empowering System:. sit. y. Nat. . ‧. consensus level of the ecosystem to be a prediction of the ecosystem performance.. It receives the output of first dimension and examines the empowerment degree of. al. n. v i n Cahguideline to facilitate each service operant and provides each stakeholder’s collective engchi U commitment toward shared goal within the ecosystem. Then makes some adjustments and suggestions to improve the degree of empowerment.. . Linkware Flow Experience Maximization System: It obtains the given value network from second dimension, draws on the linkware. of service operation, examines the degree of flow experience, and assists designer to design the linkware to integrate the whole service based on blockchain toward maximum flow experience.. 28.

(29) . Fulfillment Testing System: This system is to check on the fulfillment of the destination of decentralized digital. ecosystem based on the fulfillment of critical mass and the network effect level, which accomplish the graduation of D3 Accelerator or not. After these processes, D3 Accelerator proposes a prototype of designed service, designers then can realize and inform the services base on the results.. 3.3 The System Flow of D3 Accelerator. 政治大 Kelly is nominated to design a digital ecosystem about destination of living 立. assistance for the people who have a sum of money and pursue a sustainable quality of. ‧ 國. 學. life. However, Kelly is at a loss as to what to do. Thus, she can utilize our model to. ‧. facilitate accomplishing this tough mission.. sit. y. Nat. In the first stage, Stakeholder Value Configuration System provides the Puzzle. io. er. model to help Kelly construct the initial value network. When Kelly places the value proposition into the model, it shows the related context like ‘sustainable’ and. al. n. v i n C h it is going to break ‘Affordable’. With these key words, down into the second-layer engchi U. context; for example, ‘Transportation’, ‘Health’, ‘Shopping’, ‘Communication’, ‘Residence’, and ‘Finance’. Based on these contexts, our model searches for the related value activities individually and finds key stakeholders of those activities. After that, through examining the desirability score, disruption score, and consensus level provides an initial value network with the score level which lets Kelly know whether it is making sense or there is a suggestion for improvement.. 29.

(30) In the second stage, Value Network Empowering provides the smart contract analysis module to examine the importance of resources, correlations between resources, accessibility of smart properties, and each stakeholder’s influence degree of value activities. And this information can be acquired by inviting the stakeholders to participate a collaborative design meeting. Based on this information, the smart contract empowerment module will provide three data to each stakeholder inside the ecosystem. The first one is the recommended available resource, which can be used to enhance the stakeholder’s capability and achieve their purpose eventually. Second, the. 政治大 so that they can receive an expected and ideal outcome. Last but not least, this system 立. recommended investing resources, which enable stakeholders to input certain resources. provide each stakeholder’s influence degree of the value activities occurred in the. ‧ 國. 學. ecosystem so that they can know if their investments worth or not. In the final stage of. ‧. this system, we will calculate the collective commitment level of each stakeholder in. sit. y. Nat. order to know their willingness to co-create, hoping to carry out the synergy among all. io. er. stakeholders of the system.. In the third stage, Linkware Flow Experience Maximization draws on the. al. n. v i n C h the flow experience, linkware of service operation, examines and assists designer to engchi U. design the linkware to integrate the whole service. First, Kelly needs to identify the subservice of the given value network and to decompose this sub-service into five customer-introduced variability. Then, she could follow the recommendation we provide to decides the strategy for each sub-service of each variability. Second, our module would suggest the suitable elements used in existing database. Kelly could keep track of the degree of completion for each flow elements. Third, we provide the Linkware Design Deployment as a representation of linkware to guide Kelly. Now, she could observe which one is relatively low and she wants to deal with it first. Therefore, she could design a linkware, for instance, a linkware that transfers the price more 30.

(31) instantly between Agency and the other buyer or seller. Moreover, she could evaluate the costs when adding or integrating the linkware. Besides, by our module that provides the current degree of linkware flow experience, Kelly could adjust the variable through other modules if the degree is low or is not be satisfied. In the last stage, Fulfillment Testing System assists Kelly in checking on the effects of each above stages and in monitoring the condition of service design, which accomplishes the graduation of D3 Accelerator or not. This sub-model attempt to find a balance point between above three stages and examine by measuring the network. 政治大 variables which are the negative effects and needs to adjust the corresponding stage 立 effect level and the fulfillment of critical mass. Accordingly, Kelly is ware of the. above to reach critical mass.. ‧ 國. 學. In summery, our model facilitates designing a destination of digital ecosystem. ‧. through four stages based on the given value proposition.. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. 31. i n U. v.

(32) Chapter 4 METHODOLOGY. 4.1 Conceptual Framework. At the beginning of this section, we will illustrate the conceptual framework of our system which shows in Figure 4.1. There are five significant concepts in our conceptual framework, which are Completeness Operant Configuration, Degree of Operant Empowerment, Operation Flow of Linkware Design, Network Effect of Ecosystem, and Critical Mass of Ecosystem Participants. Besides, the first three concepts are the. 政治大. Destination Value Configuration of Digital Ecosystem Entities, which is proposed to. 立. help designers construct a digital ecosystem with a mindset of destination.. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Figure 4.1 Conceptual Framework of D3 Accelerator . Destination Value Configuration of Digital Ecosystem Entities: In order to construct a digital ecosystem with the lower cost and efficient. blockchain technology, that is also qualified to become a destination, we propose a meta concept: Destination Value Configuration of Digital Ecosystem Entities. This meta concept is composed of Completeness Operant Configuration, Degree of Operant Empowerment, and Operation Flow of Linkware Design.. 32.

(33) In Service-Dominant Logic, the core value is to increase human well-being, based on the specialized knowledge and skill of individuals (i.e., the operant resources). This is the way to realize the notion moving to the exchanges of operant resources from those of the operand resources. From operand to operant resources has implications in comprehending the interactions within digital ecosystem and the construction of digital ecosystem, that are markedly distinct from focusing on only the exchange of operand resources and has ramifications for realizing the value exchange process potentially (Vargo & Lusch, 2008).. 政治大 need every stakeholder to be an operant rather than an operand. Constantin and Lusch 立. First of all, to design a quality digital ecosystem with positive interactions, we. (1994) defined operand resources as resources on which an operation or act is. ‧ 國. 學. performed to produce an effect, and they compared operand resources with operant. ‧. resources, which are employed to act on operand resources and other operant recourses. sit. y. Nat. (Vargo & Lusch, 2004). Operant is more valuable and can cause value added effect in. io. er. the digital ecosystem. That is the reason why we provide a Completeness of Operant Configuration, which is an operant analysis instrument for designers to get to know. al. n. v i n C hand stakeholders inUthe ecosystem can supply for about the resources their partners engchi. value-adding. And we believe that completeness of operant resources is the basic requirement for designing a digital ecosystem and for reaching the critical mass further, also why we need to define a combination of stakeholders that can co-create value, can operate harmoniously, and can sustain permanently to fulfill a de-centralized, interactive digital ecosystem. Next is about the Degree of Operant Empowerment, an empowerment strategy designs guidance that can help designers come up with a well-planned manipulation to enhance the motivation of stakeholders’ value co-creating, make sure the strategy is developed with feasibility, and confirm all the stakeholders are beneficial and necessary. 33.

(34) According to previous research, top management leadership and employee empowerment are considered to be two of the most important principles of total quality management (TQM) due to their assumed relationship with customer satisfaction. And the research result reveals that positive correlation between top management leadership, employee empowerment, job satisfaction, and customer satisfaction. (Ugboro & Obeng, 2000). Matching to the concept of stakeholder empowerment in the digital ecosystem, we believe a superior empowerment strategy can improve levels of stakeholder satisfaction and also customer satisfaction. Furthermore, the satisfaction exerts an. 政治大 certainly without any doubt. In this way, we subsume the concept of empowerment into 立 influence on the willingness and the probability of joining the ecosystem, that is. the Destination Value Configuration of Digital Ecosystem Entities.. ‧ 國. 學. Last but not least comes to Operation Flow of Linkware Design, an implement that. ‧. can measure the fulfillment of the flow experience. Service provision is a set of. sit. y. Nat. procedures from the very beginning to the end of service operations. The interaction. io. er. and communication within these procedures has become an important component in the development of better service (Dong & Siu, 2013) and we believe that is the pivot of. al. n. v i n C h of digital ecosystem. success or failure to launch a destination Since Internet has arisen, engchi U. online service can be seen as an information-intensive industry. We can argue that a business’ performance, for instance, customer satisfaction, loyalty, share of voice, etc., will be dependent on its customers’ experiences related to the flow of events within the service delivery process (Chase & Dasu, 2001). As a matter of fact, the concept of flow experience is wildly used in service optimization, especially for hasten customer’s decision making and service delivering (Gentile, Spiller, & Noci, 2007; Verhoef et al. 2009). Thus, we believe reaching the flow experience can consolidate the existing customer and can be the incentive for new customer to accede to the digital ecosystem.. 34.

(35) In conclusion, possessing enough participants (include stakeholders and customers) that is able to cause the network effect is the first step to grow into a destination. Destination Value Configuration of Digital Ecosystem Entities is composed by the factors of service design that is related to the network effect, and have a positive impact on reaching critical mass. That is to say, it is an implement for service designers to make sure their designs are conforming with ecosystem participants’ demand and are getting on the track of the fulfillment.. . 政治大 As reaching the critical mass, network effect is the cause and effect of the 立. Arising Level of Network Effect Factors:. following to be considered, which is the concept about how the participation of one. ‧ 國. 學. participant will affect others when making service choices, and so does the other hand. ‧. (Liebowitz & Margolis, 1994). The value of the ecosystem service can be increased by. sit. y. Nat. the number of participants while the network effect was triggered. Arising Level of. io. er. Network Effect Factors are influential elements of network effect proposed in our research project – D3 Accelerator, elaboration of each element please reference to. al. n. v i n C h 2017. To ensure the Chiang, 2017; Kuo, 2017; and Chen, sustainability of the designed engchi U. digital ecosystem and to be ambitious of growing into a destination, we assume that to reinforce the network effect will be beneficial for approaching the critical mass, in addition, to make sure there is no negative effect interact within the Destination Value Configuration of Digital Ecosystem Entities is also a prerequisite of reaching our value proposition. Besides, in the research of Boudreau & Jeppesen (2015), they discovered that there is a positive causal response between platform development rates and the growth of platform usage. Mapping to our research means that improving the efficiency of building the digital ecosystem will cause a positive effect on the growth to reach the critical mass. We argue that designing a digital ecosystem with the blockchain 35.

(36) technology, which can lower the development cost and can increase the efficiency, has somehow interdependent with decreasing the negative effect and help the digital ecosystem reaching the critical mass.. . Fulfillment of Critical Mass: Critical mass in this research represent a concept of the number of participants in. the digital ecosystem meeting a critical point that is able to trigger network effect (or we can say as network externality). As the Internet provides an universal access media. 政治大 power of its effect is unable to be underestimated. The universal access alike the 立 for people all over the world, the connection between each node of the access and the. concept of a public service that every participant can not be prevented from enjoying. ‧ 國. 學. even if they do not contribute to the ecosystem. In addition, the participant of the. ‧. ecosystem should entail the mutual interdependence of the previous participants and. sit. y. Nat. afterwards (Markus, 1987). Consequently, for providing a value-added service, for. io. er. increasing the participants of the ecosystem, and for lasting out the duration of the digital ecosystem, we deem that reaching the critical mass will be the first priority to. al. n. v i n C hdesign pattern. As aUresult, our research proposition do and also the prerequisite of the engchi is to measure fulfillment of critical mass in order to help service designers acquaint. with their position of service design and to give some hints of direction that can improve the design.. 4.2 System Architecture. Our system intends to provide a guideline and a measure instrument for service designers to come up with a framework that is capable of being a destination of decentralized digital ecosystem. In this section, we will illustrate the complete system 36.

(37) architecture of our research, that is to provide a method based on the conceptual framework. The system architecture is show in Figure 4.2 consists of two modules, which is the Fulfillment of Critical Mass Module and the Network Effect Testing Module, and a supporting module, D3 Accelerator Assistant Module. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Figure 4.2 System Architecture. 1. Arising Level of Network Effect Factors’ Testing Module In this research we assume that triggering the network effect should accumulate enough participants in the ecosystem network, which means every service design has to scale up in order to reach the critical mass. We believe when the number of participants reach to a critical point, there is crucial point to trigger the bigger network effect and lead the service into the explosion stage, that is also our definition of the Critical Mass in this research as well. Based on the assumption, we attempt to manifest. 37.

(38) network effect within the digital ecosystem and try to reinforce it in this section. According to the network effect propose by a book named Platform Revolution: An Innovation of Business Model Sweeping Global Social, Commercial, Game, and Media Industry (Chen & Yu, 2013), it says that to initiate the network effect should have positive same-side effect and cross-side effect. That also means the interactions between the designed digital ecosystem should be corroborated as none negative. To achieve the objective of our research, which is to strengthen the network effect level by the improvement of the D3 Accelerator Assistant Module, we examine those. 政治大 propose. We try to ascertain that every improvement of each dimension can lead the 立 dimensions in high level perspective and look out for their solution for our research. designed ecosystem a better state in the digital ecosystem lifetime. At that time, we can. ‧ 國. 學. give a feedback to those dimensions, support them to their completeness of operant. ‧. configuration, degrees of operant empowerment, and the operation flow of linkware. sit. y. Nat. design. Last but not least is to scrutinize the network effect on the alteration of those. io. operation towards the maximum network effect level.. n. al. Ch. engchi. er. dimension, make certain the improvement is conducting the whole digital ecosystem. i n U. v. 2. Fulfillment of Critical Mass Module. In order to substantiate the digital ecosystem design having the ability to reach the critical mass, we provide a verification module for facilitating designers to orientate the service design. Furthermore, with the designed position, designers may know the expansibility of the ecosystem design and then ponder the ability to improve the service ecosystem design. Networks are characterized by positive size externalities, which is commonly called network externalities. The benefits of the addition of an extra participant exceed the private benefits accruing to the particular participant (Economides & Himmelberg, 38.

(39) 1995). So as to measure the participants that is empower to expand the network effect, we put forward the Digital Ecosystem Situation Analysis for designers to comprehend the ability and expansibility of the design at the very beginning. According to previous research, customers’ willingness to accede to the service system and patronize the same service again is determined by the comparison analysis of the costs and benefits which is associate with the customer and the service provider (Lee & Cunningham, 2001). All things considered, the Digital Ecosystem Situation Analysis measures the cost and benefit of all stakeholders in the digital ecosystem, and. 政治大 vacuum stage of the lifetime (show in Figure 4.2.1), endeavor to meliorate the design 立 simulates the participants in the lifetime of the digital ecosystem. Focusing on the. to reach the critical mass.. ‧ 國. 學. With the condition's analysis, next we are going to gauge and control the negative. ‧. effect of the operation of digital ecosystem, so that we can make certain the designed. sit. y. Nat. ecosystem will expand positively then evolve into mature. After the negative effect. io. er. measurement, for designers we try to estimate the probability of the digital ecosystem participants to realize their service acceptability and the increment in future. Aiming to. al. n. v i n C h and to adjust theirUdesign to fulfill a better service help designers to position, to arrange, engchi ecosystem that is in line with demand expectations.. 39.

(40) 政治大. Figure 4.2.1 Digital Ecosystem Development with Network Effect. 立. ‧ 國. 學. The following section will go into details and explicate the operation of these modules and sub-modules.. ‧. n. al. er. io. sit. y. Nat. 4.3 Arising Level of Network Effect Factors’ Testing Module. i n U. v. The core value of Arising Level of Network Effect Factors’ Testing Module is to. Ch. engchi. ensure the digital ecosystem evolution is operating on the proper track toward the correct direction. To examine the influence from the D3 Accelerator Assistant Module to the designed ecosystem, to improve the D3 Accelerator Assistant Module, and to look over the network effect circulating within designed ecosystem at last, are the main functions of this module. These functions will only be started up if the designed ecosystem is capable of reaching the critical mass, that is to say it is qualified to estimate arising level of network effect factors.. 40.

(41) Network effect level is a measurement that designers can comprehend the network effect of the digital ecosystem goes along to what extent. When we ponder over the level of the network effect of the designed ecosystem, we are trying to do the improvement of the designed pattern based on three dimensions of D3 Accelerator Assistant Module. Moreover, we believe the improvement of those dimensions is related to the network effect level. Figure 4.3 shows illustrate the interaction between D3 Accelerator Assistant Module and the network effect, and the following three sections are going to explain the cause and effect of assistant module’s improvement and the level of network effect.. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Figure 4.3 Relationship between Assistant Module and Network Effect. 4.3.1 Completeness of Operant Configuration. In this sub-module of Destination Value Configuration of digital Ecosystem Entities, the output value represents the consensus level of digital ecosystem. In other hand, the consensus level of digital ecosystem is to examine the interactions between. 41.

(42) stakeholders and also, the designed ecosystem will have higher successful rate with the higher level of consensus. Consensus level is not only related to the successful rate of digital ecosystem, but also highly correlated to the operating level of network effect. Due to the consensus of ecosystem cognition of stakeholders, the identification of the digital ecosystem will be consistent in every stakeholder’s mindset. They share the same vision and recognize the equivalent prospect, that is to be conductive to the interactions within the stakeholders of digital ecosystem from different perspective or different side. Consequently, we believe that to improve the consensus level of the. 政治大. Completeness of Operant Configuration could help increasing the cross-side network effect of the digital ecosystem.. 立. In addition, we calculate the extent of network effect from the input of three. ‧ 國. 學. dimensions, divided into two parts of variables that can affect same-side network effect. ‧. and cross-side network effect (the function is shown in Formula 4.4.1). The sum of the. sit. y. Nat. variables represents the fulfillment of the network effect of digital ecosystem, that can. io. er. be a feedback for designers to better understand whether their design corresponds to the service demand and that is to perform an immense network effect.. n. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Formula 4.4.1 Arising Level of Network Effect Factors. 42.

(43) 4.3.2 Degree of Operant Empowerment. The output value of the empowerment degree on behalf of the smart properties and resources integration and empowerment can be regarded as the willingness to license the smart properties and resources for other stakeholders. When we are going to enhance the network effect, first we have to make sure there is a powerful motivation attracting people to join the digital ecosystem. That means every participant can draw benefits which is not limited to the access of money from the ecosystem. We believe. 政治大 motivation of participant more powerful and that will also result in the positive impact 立 that the improvement of smart properties and resources integrating can make the. on both same-side and cross-side effect.. ‧ 國. 學. After creating enough motivations, we devote to transform the passive reception. ‧. into active sharing, rely on the authorization of stakeholders’ own smart properties and. y. Nat. resources to facilitate the digital ecosystem operation based on the network effect. The. er. io. sit. value of the degree of operant empowerment contains the willingness to devote one’s owns to others, that is to say, the improvement of the degree of operant empowerment. al. n. v i n C hand the cross-sideUeffect for increasing the smart can support the same-side effect engchi properties and resources that can be utilized and also stakeholders’ willingness to share.. The function shown in Formula 4.4.1 as the above, also provides a useful feedback for designers to connect the empowerment degrees to the network effect of digital ecosystem, in light of the Fulfillment of Critical Mass that has be mentioned in the first section of chapter 4.2, especially the negative effect and the probability of participants together with the resources integration and willingness to share. They can give designers some inspiration of how to regulate the variables that can increase the fulfillment of critical mass and can enhance the network effect. That is a serviceable information which can be used in further advanced digital ecosystem design by 43.

(44) monitoring the variation of variables from the Degree of Operant Empowerment and the network effect of whole digital ecosystem.. 4.3.3 Operation Flow of Linkware Design. The output of the Operation Flow of Linkware Design is a concept of the fulfillment of the service flow level. Operation Flow of Linkware Design considers about the elements of fulfilling flow experience, participants perceived service quality,. 政治大 is to lower the barriers for stakeholders to entry the digital ecosystem, so that we can 立. cost of designing the linkware, and the interaction complexity, and so on. All the above. attract more participants to join the digital ecosystem. In this way, that is somehow to. ‧ 國. 學. bring the positive impact on the same-side and the cross-side network effect for the. ‧. digital ecosystem.. sit. y. Nat. The same as the function shows in Formula 4.4.1, the arising level of network. io. er. effect factors measures the entirety of service flow completeness, in light of melioration of the advanced ecosystem design, completeness of service flow and the consideration. al. n. v i n of barriers to entry, illustrated C in Figure 4.3, allude the h e n g c h i U tendency of service design’s. probability. We believe the outcome of the Network Effect Testing Module can help designers to do the amendment while proposing the improvement program in advance. Furthermore, the feedback also can assist designers to master the dynamic equilibrium relationship between linkware design and the critical mass.. 44.

(45) 4.4 Fulfillment of Critical Mass Module. As we mentioned before, our system D3 Accelerator serves as an assistant instrument for service designers to create a digital service ecosystem that can go through the vacuum stage and smoothly reach the critical mass, in order to trigger the network effect and get into the explosion stage. Therefore, the destination of Fulfillment of Critical Mass Module is about to analyze the status of the designed model, whether it is qualified to pass through the vacuum stage successfully or not, and to give assistance to designers for evolving into a better blueprint of digital ecosystem design.. 立. 政治大. 4.4.1 Digital Ecosystem Situation Analysis. ‧ 國. 學. To achieve the destination of the Fulfillment of Critical Mass Module, we have to. ‧. let our designers comprehend with the available resources that can support their design. y. Nat. io. sit. pattern. Consequently, this submodule come up with the result based on the input data. n. al. er. of anticipative funds and revenue which are the foundation of operating a digital. i n U. v. ecosystem. The anticipative funds and revenue are the determinants of operation of. Ch. engchi. digital ecosystem, neither of a digital ecosystem can be sustainable without sufficient funds and revenue. Acordingly, we calculate the variables that have be mentioned above and inputted by the designers, give a total amount and named as the present benefit, that is the positive situation of the digital ecosystem shown in Figure 4.3.. 4.4.2 Measurement of Negative Effect. After the positive ecosystem situation analysis, we have to know the obstacles to launch a digital ecosystem, that is the reason why we attempt to measure the negative 45.