A Lakatosian Perspective on the Business Ecosystems Theory
The Business Ecosystem notion is now firmly rooted in managerial vocabulary. However, the existence of a specific business ecosystem scientific research program is still being discussed in the academic world. To demonstrate the existence of such a program, we carried out a diachronic qualitative analysis using a version of the Lakatos research program methodology adapted to the management sciences. 74 articles published in Strategic Management journals with a high impact factor between 1993 and 2014 were selected. The diachronic analysis of the selected works demonstrates the existence of a dynamic and progressive research program linking different theoretical constructs.