Dealing with strategic tensions in digital business ecosystems

In a digital business ecosystem, individual members not only operate in the field of tension between cooperation and rivalry. Strategists also face a trade-off between exploiting existing resources and investing in new business opportunities. We describe four ideal types for resolving such strategic tensions, exemplified by Amazon's marketplace, and we discuss strategic options of the respective actors in the digital business ecosystem regarding their position on a two-dimensional framework. We propose a selective usage of strategy tools and management approaches based on the analysis of strategic tensions. This analysis locates firms and business models in one of four Arenas, which we describe with case examples in this contribution. In particular, we show the consequences of this analysis for the firm's necessary resources, management styles, organizational design, and its underlying competitive dynamics.