Contemporary Business Ecosystems. Strategy, Innovation and Sustainability

Abstract

At the beginning, the book introduces the reader to business ecosystems and various forms of entrepreneurship, with a particular emphasis on the characteristics of new and emerging digital ecosystems. The inextricable relationship between innovation and entrepreneurship is then analyzed, as well as the concept of the business model and in particular the Business Model Canvas tool and how it includes the involved members of an ecosystem. The main characteristics of the external and internal environment of businesses and their ecosystems follow, and the various tools that contribute to their evaluation, as well as the goals that are then set and the way to evaluate the performance of the operation of businesses and organizations. The identification of the four main generic strategies, as well as other types of business potential strategies is the subject that follows, while particular emphasis is placed on the innovation strategy and how it affects the business/competitive strategies applied by a firm in the context of and wider cooperation in a ecosystem. The next subjects deal within the book concerns cooperative movements with the aim of obtaining mutual benefits, as well as ways of reacting to different competitive movements carried out by organizations of an ecosystem, while it then further focuses on a particular form of business ecosystem, the clusters. The necessary elements and background are given to understand the process of strategic management with an emphasis on achieving and maintaining a competitive advantage. Finally, the book describes the issues of ethical and social responsibility in the context of business sustainability, with particular reference to business sustainability strategy which becomes central to their overall direction and strategy.