Identifying Business Ecosystems’ Characteristics Using Metasynthesis

The characteristics of today's businesses have led managers to pay attention to their business from ecosystem point of view and this attention is increasing. Considering businesses from the business ecosystem point of view will lead to significant differences in comparison to considering a specific business and will transform analyses and actions from the individual level to the collective level. However, the prerequisite for any analysis or action in the field of ecosystems is to identify the characteristics of ecosystems. In order to specify the characteristics of business ecosystems and using Metasynthesis, published articles in four databases and specifically four reputable journals are reviewed and after evaluating and screening the articles, 54 articles are selected and carefully studied and the information obtained are combined and interpreted. According to the Metasynthesis results, the characteristics of ecosystems can be classified into five main characteristics including Structural Characteristics, Interactive Characteristics, Evolutionary Characteristics, Social Characteristics and Governance Characteristics that every characteristic includes sub-characteristics and concepts and all together make the framework of business ecosystems’ characteristics. These characteristics affect all dimensions of an ecosystem and comprehensive knowledge about them is a valuable guide for any research or action in ecosystems.