The term ecosystem is currently attracting enormous interest among managers, consultants and researchers. Unfortunately, in some areas it has also become a fashionable "buzzword" used in an almost inflationary way. As a result, our understanding of what exactly an ecosystem is-and what it is not-in a business context has expanded considerably as well. We have therefore taken the authors' conference on this special issue as an opportunity to seek a common understanding of the key terms used in

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... e context of ecosystems. Business ecosystems are an organizational form that enables coordination between independent but complementary players around a shared value proposition, thus creating added value.