The emergence of the electric vehicle industry in Chinese Shandong Province: A research design for understanding business ecosystem capabilities

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose a research design that seeks to explore the evolutionary pathways of the emerging electric vehicle (EV) industry through employing the business ecosystem framework, which focuses on the interaction between firms, government officials, industrial associations and customers; and at the same time to identify the necessary strategic capabilities behind such emergence.

Design/methodology/approach

Qualitative research methodology will be employed such that multiple case studies will be carried out through the implementation of interviews with companies, industrial players and policy makers.

Findings

The research findings of this paper include a comprehensive depiction of the emerging business ecosystem structure of the EV industry, which contributed in building the main elements of the proposed conceptual research framework.

Research limitations/implications

The research findings of this paper are based on one province in China; also the business ecosystem of the emerging EV industry may differ in different regions across the country.

Practical implications

Practically, this research would be able to provide a tool for industrial players and policy makers through the formulation of a capability maturity model, which allows the evaluation of the capabilities of the corresponding ecosystem players, so as to permit the assessment of their positions with the provision of guidelines benefiting the advancement of emerging industries.

Originality/value

This paper offers original theoretical contributions through developing strategic capabilities of emerging business ecosystems and is the first to provide a comprehensive structure on the low‐speed EV industry in China.

Citation

Shang, T. and Shi, Y. (2013), "The emergence of the electric vehicle industry in Chinese Shandong Province: A research design for understanding business ecosystem capabilities", Journal of Chinese Entrepreneurship, Vol. 5 No. 1, pp. 61-75. https://doi.org/10.1108/17561391311297888