---
id: "framework-three-types-ecosystem-synergies"
type: "framework"
source_timestamps: ["§ Three types of ecosystem synergies"]
tags: ["taxonomy", "synergy-models"]
related: ["concept-ecosystem-synergies", "entity-adobe", "entity-salesforce", "entity-facebook"]
speakers: ["Natalie Burford", "Andrew Shipilov", "Nathan Furr"]
steps: ["\\\"Strengthening: deepening existing partner ties (e.g.", "Adobe + Magento).\\\"", "\\\"Attracting: bringing net-new partners into the ecosystem (e.g.", "Facebook + Instagram).\\\"", "\\\"Connecting: cross-pollinating previously siloed partners (e.g.", "Salesforce + Krux).\\\""]
source_url: "https://hbr.org/2026/06/when-evaluating-an-ma-opportunity-consider-the-broader-digital-ecosystem"
source_title: "When Evaluating an M&A Opportunity, Consider the Broader Digital Ecosystem"
sources: ["ecosystem"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-ecosystem"
originDay: 11
articleStem: "hbr-cl-80-ma-digital-ecosystem"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/06/when-evaluating-an-ma-opportunity-consider-the-broader-digital-ecosystem"
sourceTitle: "When Evaluating an M&A Opportunity, Consider the Broader Digital Ecosystem"
---
# Three Types of Ecosystem Synergies

A taxonomy that categorizes how value is created when combining ecosystems during an acquisition (see [[concept-ecosystem-synergies]]). It breaks down into three distinct mechanisms:

**1. Strengthening** — Improving how the merged firm's products work with *existing* developers/partners, prompting them to invest in new integrations.
> Example: [[entity-adobe-d11]] acquiring [[entity-magento]] (2018), giving Magento's developer community access to Adobe's cloud infrastructure and broader toolset — yielding more reliable, scalable applications for merchants.

**2. Attracting** — Drawing *new* ecosystem partners to build products or connections to the merged firm, increasing the total number of complementary components.
> Example: [[entity-facebook-d11]] acquiring [[entity-instagram]] (2012), attracting new ad/marketing developers to Instagram via Facebook's monetization tools (see [[claim-facebook-instagram-ecosystem]]).

**3. Connecting** — Enabling the acquirer's and target's previously *siloed* complementors to link to each other's products, creating cross-connections and multisided dimensions.
> Example: [[entity-salesforce-d11]] acquiring [[entity-krux]], allowing Krux data developers (audience-behavior data) to tap into Salesforce CRM data.

All three depend on the voluntary participation of [[concept-complementors]] and were developed in the authors' research published in the [[entity-strategic-management-journal]].

**Enrichment note — labels differ from the academic source:** The SMJ paper describes three *novel* synergy sources as **relational, network, and non-market** (per the PDF search snippet), while this article operationalizes them as **Strengthening, Attracting, Connecting** — a manager-friendly translation/simplification of the same research. The closest scholarly antecedent is Feldman & Hernandez's relational/network/non-market synergy typology. The Adobe–Magento and Salesforce–Krux mappings are directionally consistent with the known acquisitions, but the specific ecosystem-synergy causality should be read as authorial interpretation.


## Related across articles
- [[framework-f2f-competitive-advantages]]