The literature tends to use these two terms interchangeably, although they do seem to have some differences, as pointed out in this blog post by Erkko Autio (https://thegedi.org/entrepreneurial-and-business-ecosystems-whats-different/).
You may also share other research that addresses this problem or your thoughts.
Entrepreneurial Ecosystems refers to the relationship between a specific business entity with particular emphasis on entrepreneurship determinants and the proximal and distant environment. In contrast, Business Ecosystems mainly deals with relationships between business entities cooperating with each other against the background of specific business, financial, economic, social conditions, etc.
Regards,
Dariusz Prokopowicz
Though many people use both the terms interchangeably, the connotation differes.
A businessman tries to make a place in an existing market by going for a product or a service, which is already there and has high demand. So he is a market player. An entrepreneur, on the other hand, comes to the market with new, and may be unconventional, ideas. So having created the market with his new ideas, he becomes a market leader.
A businessman faces less risk as the idea he follows is already tried and tesetd, but he may face stiff competition as he enters an existing market, and so the profit margin may be low. An entrepreneur does not face much competition as his market is new, but he has to encounter high risk. Of course, high risk can lead to high return.
Interestingly, an entrepreneur in the long run tends to become a businessman as he gets entrenched in his business and many others enter the field, once his original idea succeeds in the market.
TONELLI, Dany F.; BRITO, Mozar J.; ZAMBALDE, André L. Entrepreneurship from the actor-network theory perspective: exploring alternatives beyond the subjectivism and objectivism. Cadernos EBAPE, v. 9, edição especial, Jul. p. 586–603, 2011.
Basically, and shortly.
Ecosystem as pretty wide system, and simultaneously daily changing and developing system, is in interaction with certain “body”. And depends what kind of “body” it is. It could be large or negligible. And internal or external also. This broad field gives space for different interpretations and “creativity”. Perhaps somebody serious and responsible, with enough education, will be able to clean this mess and to create systematic naming of it.
Whole industry ecosystem corresponds to the product life cycle of Crossing the Chasm (Geoffery Moore, 1991). Please refer to enclosed figure.
The business ecosystem is related to the relationships between the business environment, the institutional framework, the socio-economic framework and the market. It is a functional framework between the stakeholders of the company.
The entrepreneurial ecosystem is made up of support structures, coworking spaces, incubators, guides, business creators, startups.
The following article that was published recently provides insights on the problem since it conducts relevant bibliometric analysis: Burda, Y. D., Volkova, I. O., & Gavrikova, E. V. (2020). Meaningful analysis of innovation, business and entrepreneurial ecosystem concepts. Российский Журнал Менеджмента, 18(1), 73–102. https://rjm.spbu.ru/article/view/6617
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