Introduction to the Handbook on Digital Business Ecosystems: Strategies, Platforms, Technologies, Governance and Societal Challenges

Abstract

Digital Business Ecosystems (DBEs) are networks of organizations that create and deliver a specific product or service in a partly or fully digital environment. The term "business ecosystem" conveys that, analogous to biological ecosystems, DBE actors establish a non-homogeneous community of self-interested entities that depend on each other for their survival. The Handbook on DBEs takes a diverse and interdisciplinary approach on the theory, practice, and organizational phenomena that constitute and exist in DBEs: technologies and their potential (e.g., IoT, AI, machine learning, blockchain); markets and business models (e.g., value creation through customer integration, data-driven business models, platforms, and multi-sided marketplaces); governance and management (e.g., strategic positioning in business ecosystems, inter-ecosystem competition, human resources and capability management, ecosystem maturity); societal challenges (e.g., ethics, sustainability, corporate digital responsibility); and broader industry implications. The Handbook is intended for researchers and students, but also for managers who have to navigate increasingly complex DBE.