Abstract.
The concept of
ecosystem emanates from ecology and subsequently has been broadly used in
business studies to describe and investigate complex interrelationships between
companies and other organizations. Concepts that are transferred from other
disciplines (and used both in research and in practice) can, however, be
ambiguous and problematic. For example, the use of the ecosystem concept has
been questioned in the literature. To better understand the potential
ambiguities between the business ecosystem concept and other related concepts, this
study presents a conceptual analysis of business ecosystem. We continue by
analytically comparing business ecosystem with other concepts used to describe
business relationships, namely industry, population, cluster, and
inter-organizational network.  The
results indicate a need for conceptual clarity when describing business
networks.  We conclude with a synthesis
and discuss under what circumstances using the business ecosystem concept may
add value for research and practice. The paper contributes to the business
ecosystem literature by positioning the business ecosystem concept in relation
to other closely related concepts