Unearthing Role Dynamics Within Innovation Ecosystem Emergence: A Case Study of Data‐Driven Circularity

ABSTRACT Innovation ecosystems (IE) are increasingly regarded as important vehicles for creating value from complex value propositions and addressing grand challenges through the development of a circular economy (CE). While current research emphasizes that inter‐organizational relationships can facilitate transformation toward a CE, this study enhances our understanding of collaboration in ecosystem emergence. We conducted an 18‐month ethnographic case study of an IE aimed at developing data‐driven CE solutions within the German automotive industry. This study sheds light on ecosystem dynamics by examining how the roles of partners within an IE evolve during the highly volatile emergence phase to maximize value creation. We uncover two role dimensions that differ in their temporal dynamics and offer an integrative process model of role evolution. Our study thereby contributes to the literature on role theory and CE ecosystems by outlining how partner firms collaborate in IEs to develop data‐driven CE solutions.