Ecosystem as Structure

Over the past 20 years, the term “ecosystem” has become pervasive in discussions of strategy, both scholarly and applied. Its rise has mirrored an increasing interest and concern among both researchers and managers with interdependence across organizations and activities. This article presents a structuralist approach to conceptualizing the ecosystem construct. It presents a clear definition of the ecosystem construct, a grammar for characterizing ecosystem structure, and a characterization of the distinctive aspects of ecosystem strategy. This approach offers an explicit examination of the relationship among ecosystems and a host of alternative constructs (business models, platforms, coopetition, multisided…