To compete successfully in the digital age, companies must be able to shape and leverage an increasingly complex network of internal and external stakeholders, which constitute their “Business Ecosystem”. This means new challenges for leadership, strategy, and organization.

To gain insights into how organizations deal with this challenge, the author conducted a series of in-depth interviews with thought leaders and top executives as well as a global survey among senior leaders that focused on understanding the strategic and organizational capabilities it takes to act successfully within ecosystem networks. The responses point to existing capability gaps and offer perspectives on how to close such gaps.

The first part of the paper identifies 12 key issues that need to be on the agenda of organizations if they want to lead within the context of business ecosystems.  The second part reports the results of the survey, revealing the current state of ecosystem engagement.