It takes a village to raise a child and it takes an ecosystem or network of suppliers, distributors, customers, competitors, regulators, governments and so on to provide particular products or services. Changes or disruption in one element will affect the service akin to a healthcare worker or teacher failing to treat or detect a problem in a child. Change is constant and each part of the ecosystem must adapt.
For example…
An ecosystem plays a critical role is a department store. Suppliers and distributors will be located all over the world, customers can order online or buy in-store, competitors may offer a non-compatible attachment to your product, governments may want to increase the tax your type of department store pays. All these variables contribute to and influence the provision of services and also the bottom line of the business.
