History and future of business ecosystem: a bibliometric analysis and visualization

Zhang, Xia; Yang, Yue; Chen, Yun

Abstract

The business ecosystem theory has developed rapidly in recent years and has become a hot
topic in the field of business and management. However, the use of this concept is con-
troversial. This study systematically reviewed literature published spanning nearly three
decades from 1993 to 2022. In this paper, researchers designed an improved traceability
method to retrieve literature based on data sources form Web of Science. VOSviewer
and CiteSpace are adopted as two scientific atlas tools for information processing and
visualization to evaluate the relationship between sub fields of business ecosystem. The
findings show that the four branches of business ecosystem, i.e., innovation, platform, en-
trepreneurship and service, absorb theoretical ideas to varying degrees. Among them, the
theoretical inheritance relationship of innovation branch is most clear, and gradually grows
into the backbone of ecosystem research. Major contribution of this study is reflected in
three aspects: Firstly, the improved traceability method provides a repeatable quantitative
description process on the basis of significantly reducing researchers’ subjective participa-
tion. Secondly, from perspective of bibliometrics, the branch direction and key nodes of
theory development are identified. Thirdly, the study helps identify the future development
directions of business ecosystem, including innovation, digitalization, entrepreneurship,
self-organization and the strategic transformation guided by emerging technologies

Citation

Zhang, X., Yang, Y., & Chen, Y. (2024). History and future of business ecosystem: a bibliometric analysis and visualization. Environment, Development and Sustainability, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-024-05318-6

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 17, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Aug 27, 2024
• Publication Date: Aug 27, 2024
• Deposit Date: Aug 17, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 5, 2024
• Journal: Environment, Development and Sustainability
• Print ISSN: 1387-585X
• Electronic ISSN: 1573-2975
• Publisher: Springer Verlag
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-024-05318-6