Abstract
Extant empirical research on ecosystem alignment has offered little insight into how mature
ecosystems align their members with a new value proposition. Our longitudinal empirical study of
a seven-year hub-driven alignment initiative within the SOK retail ecosystem in Finland explores
how a mature ecosystem hub attempted to enroll its members in a value-proposition updating,
ecosystem-wide initiative and the members’ reaction. We find that the mature ecosystem
alignment process unfolds through four distinct sets of practices: (1) Courtship, (2) Mutual
Adaptation, (3) Peer Emulation, and (4) Coercion. We describe these practices and associated
mechanisms and develop a process model indicating how they unfold and interrelate. Our study
provides a nuanced, empirically grounded account of mature ecosystem alignment as an iterative
process of multilateral interorganizational influence that leads to, on the one hand, a convergence
of actions among an expanding set of ecosystem members and, on the other hand, a divergence of
views between the newly aligned members and a subset of members who become increasingly
entrenched in their perception of irreconcilable differences and ultimately leave the ecosystem.
Our discussion suggests that the tension between the hub’s temptation to control and the ecosystem
members’ concern about preserving their autonomy propels the alignment process to its
conclusion. We conclude with managerial implications and avenues for future research.