Illustrating the concept of business ecosystem from views of bionics and competitive network and related theories

In this paper we illustrate the concept of business ecosystem by comparing it with other related concepts from the views of bionics and competitive network, involving theories of social Darwinism, general system theory, organizational ecology, value chain/network, industrial cluster and strategic alliance. This is aiming to better understand a business ecosystem and its applied advantage. The key point is: Business ecosystem is a good metaphor to demonstrate the growth and development path - birth, evolution, mutation and others forms for adapting to the environmental changes. The discussion is given followed by implications for future research direction.