Collective consciousness in business ecosystems

Abstract

<p>This paper presents collective consciousness as a lens through which to analyze the psycho-social dynamics of business ecosystems. While the business ecosystem concept has drawn a lot of attention in software and business literature, the intangible psycho-social layers of attention and shared cognition produced by the interactions between ecosystem actors are not well understood. To address this void in the literature, we adopt collective consciousness as a conceptual tool to better understand business ecosystems as complex networks of heterogeneous actors. We present an illustrative case of an emerging business ecosystem of digital services for real estate and facility management and scrutinize the applicability of collective consciousness as a conceptual device to better understand the characteristics and dynamics of business ecosystems. We suggest that employing collective consciousness provides a useful analytical device to better understand the complexities emerging from the interactions between the actors. We further discuss under what circumstances employing collective consciousness as a conceptual tool adds particular value for business ecosystem research and practice. </p><p>Keywords: business ecosystem, collective consciousness, digitalization, conceptual analysis, digital transformation, digital disruption <br /></p>