Journal on Policy & Complex Systems Volume 4, Number 1, Spring 2018 | Page 143

Journal on Policy and Complex Systems
role is particular to a defined environmental setting , the current species associations , and the responses of other species . ( p . 222 )
In other words , there is no such thing as keystone-like behavior . There are only keystone-like conditions .
Here is another example of the keystone species concept applied to business , from Moore ' s ( 1997 ) The Death of Competition :
Wal-Mart hardly has a choice about taking up this mantle . It has become a keystone species — and the center of one of the most important ecosystems on its continent . ( p . 188 )
Again , one of the largest companies in the world has been given as an example of a keystone species , entirely missing the point that to be a keystone species , it must have a disproportionate impact on the ecosystem . Similarly , Göthlich and Wenzek ( 2004 ) say :
The keystone strategy derived from the business ecosystem model poses a feasible alternative to aggressive dominator behaviour with reasonable prospects of success since they nourish diversity and reduce the dangers of ecosystem-wide spread of failures and contagion . ( p . 19 )
This seems to say that the big guys can be keystones if they play nice — again placing the emphasis on behavior rather than conditions . In general , the keystone species concept seems to have been appropriated in the business world as an apologia for the dominance of large firms . It is not unreasonable to transfer metaphors from one world of inquiry to another ; but choosing only one meaning — and failing to mention that it has been corrected out of existence by experts in the original field — seems disingenuous .
A better candidate for a keystone species in business might be found in an incident mentioned in a report on semiconductor manufacturing ( Peach , 1995 ):
One Japanese company , Sumitomo Chemical , provides over 50 percent of the world requirements for epoxy resin , which is used in semiconductor manufacturing . ... A July 1993 explosion within the Sumitomo plant curtailed production , and as a result has slowed several semiconductor manufacturing plants that rely on this source of resin . A shortage ( real or imaginary ) of DRAMs has resulted , and the price of these chips has escalated to as much as 150 percent of the price just prior to the explosion . ( pp . 17 – 18 )
Sumitomo Chemical might have been a true keystone species in the semiconductor ecosystem at that time , both because of the disproportionate impact of its temporary removal and because of the difficulty in identifying it as a keystone species beforehand .
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