Indonesia is now seeking to create an entrepreneurial ecosystem. It’s not just a matter of start-ups and micro, small and medium enterprises (UMKM), but creative thinking in companies and the government is also very much needed. 

Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Scholar, Wawan Dhewanto, Ph.D., compared the creation of an entrepreneurial ecosystem to a plot of fertile soil. “Entrepreneurial ecosystems are like fertile soil, where humus levels containing several nutrients function together to fertilize plants. Entrepreneurs who thrive on fertile land would be better off than living in an arid land,” Wawan said at Webinar Series “Business Ecosystems: The Rise and Fall” in collaboration with Massive Music, Friday (26/2/2021).

Besides Wawan, the speakers at the webinar included Digital Transformation Expert, Reza Ashari Nasution, Ph.D., Professor of Operation & Supply Chain Management of SBM ITB, Prof. Togar Simatupang, and Massive Music Managing Director, Music Producer & Samsons Guitarist, Irfan Aulia.

Irfan Aulia mapped out the existing ecosystem in the music industry as an example of ecosystem growth. As a practitioner, he explained that the role played by musicians today is so holistic. You can do yourself in the downstream chain, as an artist, all the way to upstream in the song development process.

“Today, seeing the position of the digital world, everybody can become a musician. This is the essential role of the producer as an orchestrator,” said the guitarist of Samsons. 

In the future, we need a forum that addresses both the needs of artists and the demands for song coverage, so that the needs and interests of the stakeholders in the music and recording environment will be well accommodated.

Business ecosystem

The latest business model does not concern just buying and selling, but also about selling access to a lot of things. This is the new market modelling called the business ecosystem.

As an integrated social system, the business ecosystem can develop an industrial scope. The market environment is also believed to be capable of removing the issue of company growth. 

“The market ecosystem is created with the goal of breaking the limits of conventional industries by increasing the value of services. Where individuals and societies that may be autonomous may be related to the underlying technological framework. This will build new sources of income, mitigate vulnerabilities and reduce investment risks,” said Professor Togar Simatupang, an Emerald Literati Network Award recipient.

In reality, 6 out of 7 companies with the largest capitalization in the world own and grow their own business ecosystems, respectively. The expert on business strategy, marketing, and digital transformation, Reza Ashari Nasution, Ph.D., clarified that there were issues that need to be solved before a company could build a strong business environment like Apple, Netflix, and GO-JEK. 

“In the digital age, the challenge is no longer how we get the resources, but how we configure each resource. The capacity and willingness to be transparent, diffuse, so they may have the same vision is the most important thing in creating a business ecosystem,” Reza said. 

With the orchestration in one ecosystem, the symbiotic relationship of mutualism or the development of a new co-evolution would help several parties altogether.

You can watch full version of the webinar on SBM IT YouTube channel below:

Written by Erwin Josua, EMBA 2021