Building a Values-Based, Purpose-Driven Ecosystem: The Case of “We Live Healthfully”

AKSU M. V., KUMCU E. H.

Academy of Management Proceedings, cilt.2026, sa.1, 2026 (Hakemli Dergi)

Özet

How do values-based, purpose-driven initiatives scale into complex ecosystems in the absence of formal authority, monetization, or hierarchical control? Drawing on an in-depth qualitative case study of Saglikli Yasiyoruz (We Live Healthfully - SY), a large-scale digital health ecosystem originating from the founders’ personal health transformation, this study examines how a values-based ecosystem emerges, evolves, and sustains coordination over time. Based on interviews with founders and key stakeholders, archival data, and longitudinal observations, we show that SY developed through three intertwined phases: informing, networking, and orchestrating, while pursuing societal impact at micro, meso, and macro levels. We theorize how purpose provides directional orientation, shared values enable relational alignment across heterogeneous actors, and trust operates as the central mechanism translating purpose-driven values into coordinated action and distributed governance. By conceptualizing trust as a generative mechanism rather than an outcome, this study contributes to research on values-based management, ecosystem organizing, and purpose-driven organizing by explaining how large-scale ecosystems can be built and governed through normative rather than contractual means.