AbstractsBusiness Management & Administration

Mobile NFC technology has been considered one of the key trends over the last two years. However, very few commercial and successful deployments have happened since its appearance. Furthermore, the major initiatives have been driven for large players such as Mobile Network Operators and Banking Institutions resulting in a dominant position of well-established and large companies. A Business Ecosystem (BE) is a network compound of both established companies and new ventures with a common goal. Thus, the purpose of this study was twofold – firstly to understand the structure, evolution, dynamics and health of the Mobile NFC ecosystem and secondly, to explore how Entrepreneurial Companies (ECs) face such a broad system from a strategic point of view. This was accomplished by developing a theoretical framework constructed from two main fields of research, i.e. Business Ecosystem and Strategic Entrepreneurship. A multiple and holistic case study was conducted and data collected was based on interviews with Founders, Vice Presidents and CEOs of five different ECs – all of which perform NFC activities in the Nordic/Norwegian market. The analysis was focused mainly on the Norwegian context but it was also necessary to refer to the Nordic and Global context due to early stage of development. The findings are consistent with prior literature, in the Norwegian Mobile NFC Ecosystem, ECs are defining their strategies based on the broader ecosystem. A platform leader (keystone) strategy was identified in order to build the infrastructure, enhance and facilitate the growth and productivity of the network and likewise, there was identification of the presence of several niche players – each with the purpose of exploiting specific opportunities and strategies that contribute not only to their own performance, but to the overall health of the ecosystem.