Getting to grips with the business ecosystem

Business ecosystems have become a significant part of the societal innovation around social communications and business start-up activity, and innovators need to keep an ear cocked for what is going on within these ecosystems. However, it is hard to understand and manage modern business ecosystems, which come in four sizes, due to their differing characteristics. While a lot of the innovation is open in some way, the most important characteristics lie in the new social dynamics of highly scaled partnerships, making it difficult to propose an ecosystem strategy to senior management.