“Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work”
— Peter F. Drucker*

From platform to ecosystem competition
The accelerating pace of digital transformation and global change is outpacing traditional business models, requiring companies to evolve toward more adaptive organizations. One solution is business ecosystems, which are inherently more resilient and flexible. Fortunately, technology has evolved to meet these demands. Dataspace technology enables secure, sovereign data sharing, providing the data fuel needed to drive collaboration across company boundaries and even the next level of AI success. Its decentralized architecture, much like the Internet, makes it a natural fit for ecosystem-based collaboration. With first data ecosystems, such as Catena-X, already taking shape, companies must urgently upgrade their capabilities to manage and thrive in this new environment. The top strategic priority? Building expertise in data sovereignty—ensuring control over critical data assets while enabling collaboration, even in competitive and uncertain scenarios.

Teaming with organizational science experts next door

• Our institute understands how emerging dataspace technology can unlock the full potential of ecosystems—drawing from firsthand experience developing the key software stack to privileged access to lighthouse implementation projects; and together with our co-founder, Drucker Chair, and leading customer centricity advocate Bernie Jaworski, we ensure success stories from the end-user’s perspective.
• Recognizing that ecosystems are as much about organizational design and corporate governance as they are about technology, we are proud to partner with our neighbouring institute, the Center for the Future of Organization, led by our esteemed colleague Roland Deiser. His center is known for its C-level advisory and roundtables with leading experts, such as Tom Davenport and Martin Reeves, chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute.

“Nothing beats results” – Join us … please check it out:
Schlueter Langdon, C. 2025. From platform to ecosystem transformation. Research Note (RN_DCL-Drucker-CGU_2025-04_v2), Drucker Customer Lab, Drucker School of Management, Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, CA

* Drucker, P. 1967. The Effective Executive. Harper & Row: New York, NY