Managing Platforms and Ecosystems Minitrack
Permanent URI for this collection
This minitrack calls for perspectives from information systems, strategy, marketing, operations, computer science, social sciences, and policy to continue the scholarly exploration of concepts, theories, and tools for managing platforms and ecosystems. Management incorporates many critical activities: designing, planning, implementing, decision making, and evaluating. Some but not all of these may be effective in managing platforms and ecosystems.
Ecosystems are complex socio-, economic-, and technical systems that can be characterized by human networks that generate productive output on a sustainable basis, and as business ecosystems consisting of interdependent firms that form symbiotic relationships to create and deliver products and services. Platforms, conceptual or technological constructs to structure the relationships, provide a context for connections and value creation in an ecosystem. In practice digital platforms amplify the volume of opportunity in scaling toward success, allowing for multi-sided markets to emerge. Conceptually, the mindsets, organizational constructs and the technological systems of multi-sided markets, platforms and ecosystems require a reframed perspective on strategic management that goes beyond extant literature on strategic and industrial innovation.
“You cannot do it alone” and “you do not have to do it alone” describe realities of the global interconnected economy. Contemporary organizations are struggling with managing the associated complexities. While principles and tactics for managing platforms and ecosystems are emerging, more cross-disciplinary thought leadership and experience sharing are needed.
Topics of interest include, but not limited to:
- Theories, models, and empirical studies of platforms and ecosystems
- Genesis, dynamics, and evolution of platforms and ecosystems
- Value-creation and enablement in ecosystems
- Platform and ecosystem business models
- Industry, technology, and investment platforms
- Technological and competitive disruption in ecosystems
- Analytics, visualization, and decision support for platform and ecosystems
- Best practices in platform and ecosystem management
- Orchestration strategies of platforms and ecosystem
Minitrack Co-Chairs:
Kaisa Still (Primary Contact)
VTT, Finland
Email: kaisa.still@vtt.fi
Martha Russell
Stanford University
Email: martha.russell@stanford.edu
Rahul Basole
Georgia Institute of Technology
Email: basole@gatech.edu
Browse
Recent Submissions
1 - 10 of 10
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ItemVisualizing the Geography of Platform Boundary Resources: The Case of the Global API Ecosystem( 2017-01-04)Platform boundary resources play an increasingly transformative role in the global digital ecosystem. In this study, we focus on one type of platform boundary resource, namely application programming interfaces (APIs). Guided by two competing assumptions—1) that geographic boundaries are blurred and potentially less important in a digitally connected world, and 2) that geographic proximity matters for co-innovation—we investigate the global footprint of APIs. Using a data-driven visual network analysis approach to examine more than 15,000 APIs and mashups, we first map the global locations of where APIs are being created. We then examine how API mashups connect these locations globally and regionally. Our results show that while APIs are globally distributed, they are mainly concentrated in major entrepreneurial regions. We also find that there is a skewed distribution, with the U.S. and Silicon Valley in particular leading the way. We conclude with both theoretical and managerial implications.
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ItemValue-Creation Dynamics in Platform Ecosystem: A Firm Theory Lens( 2017-01-04)This paper studies platform ecosystems, a novel business entity built upon a platform coordinating the interactions between suppliers and users, particularly in the IT service sectors. Borrowing words from two core firm theories---resource-based view (RBV) and transaction cost view (TCV)---, we propose that the platform ecosystem works at the boundary between “market and hierarchy.” To show this, we develop a conceptual, stylized, dynamic model for the platform ecosystem with typical notions in RBV and TCV: in particular, installed-base, player heterogeneity, and platform’s investment as primary ingredients. Our findings from equilibrium analyses and simulations largely confirm that both RVB and TCV are valid for understanding a platform ecosystem. We, however, also identify some contingencies where RBV is limited, and propose a hypothesis that the platform’ investment is more crucial for fostering an ecosystem. This implies that the platform starts from the point near market and maneuvers the ecosystem toward a hierarchy, utilizing its investment as a driver.
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ItemUncovering the Nature of Platform-based Business Models: An Empirical Taxonomy( 2017-01-04)Digital platforms increasingly determine the 21st century business world. This is especially reflected in the development of multi-sided platforms such as Airbnb or Uber that depict the centerpiece of innovative business models as they effectively match demand-side and supply-side participants through advanced technologies. Such marketplace platforms substantially contribute to an emergence of new ecosystems. However, we do by now not know much about the characteristics of the underlying innovative business models. To close the gap, this research develops a conceptually and empirically grounded taxonomy of marketplace business models. The paper is based on a dataset of 100 marketplace firms and presents an analysis of the business models of these firms based on different cluster analysis techniques. As a result, basic types of marketplace business models are identified and characterized. The paper contributes to a better understanding of platform-based business models and opens several avenues for studying their interplay with ecosystems.
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ItemToo Big to Fail? Overcrowding a Multi-Sided Platform and Sustained Competitive Advantage( 2017-01-04)Multi-sided platforms are increasingly common, which is no surprise given the winner-take-all dynamics in platform-based markets. That is, the platform with the biggest installed base of buyers and sellers can arguably sustain its competitive advantage because of positive indirect network effects. We reexamine this argument with an agent-based simulation model, where we allow for variety seeking and probabilistic buyer affiliation with platforms and interactions with sellers. Against the extant literature, we show that incumbency advantage is more unlikely to last when increasing the relative number of sellers to buyers on the incumbent platform. This is because extreme competition for buyers drives sellers and hence buyers, because of positive indirect network effects, to increasingly affiliate with the uncrowded entrant platform. We thus add to the literature by explaining how sustaining an installed base advantage is contingent on avoiding overcrowding a platform with too many sellers.
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ItemThe Antecedents of Transaction Costs in Digital Ecosystems: A Configurational View on the Interplay of App Architecture and Platform Governance( 2017-01-04)The locus of value creation and innovation in the software industry is shifting more and more to platform ecosystems on which numerous developers create extensions with additional functionalities based on the platforms core architecture. While such complementors may strongly profit from platforms, there are considerable costs. Recent studies therefore examined the costs of fitting apps to the specifications of certain platforms; however, these works largely neglect costs arising from the transactional relationship between platform and complementor. In order to shed light on this, our work examines how design choices of platform governance and app architecture impact the emergence of four types of cost-inducing hazards within the transactional context of the ecosystem. By using a configurational approach based on fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (FsQCA), we display complex interactional effects of the causal conditions on complementors’ perception of hazardous environments and thus provide valuable insights for both practice and theory on platform ecosystems.
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ItemShaping the Boundaries of a Service Ecosystem: The Case of Udacity( 2017-01-04)Service-dominant logic highlights the ability of service ecosystems to ‘self-adjust’ as a reaction to systemic inefficiencies or external changes [1]–[3]. We contribute to the question on how focal actors shape the boundaries of service ecosystems through service innovation. This is a single case study on a digital ecosystem focused on a first mover in digital platforms for Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs): Udacity. We found two mechanisms, where Udacity shaped the boundaries of its ecosystem: ‘user self-service integration’ and ‘gradual partner disintegration’. Throughout three phases between 2011 and 2015 they disintegrated services from higher education, namely offering courses online, designing courses, and accreditation due to lowly perceived adaptability of univer-sities and external pressures for finding a sustain-able business model. Additionally, they disinte-grated self-organized solutions of user needs and re-integrated them with new actors. This led to newly shaped boundaries of the service ecosystem.
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ItemInnovation Ecosystems vs. Innovation Systems in Terms of Collaboration and Co-creation of Value( 2017-01-04)In this paper, we explore the relevance of the term “innovation ecosystem” to describe dynamic collaborative networks of people and organizations formed around projects with an innovation objective. We present a survey of literature reviews on ecosystems studies to clarify typical features and interpretations of innovation ecosystems, and we highlight differences in terms of collaboration and value co-creation. We explore ecosystem thinking and illustrate patterns of innovation ecosystems by describing the structure of regional clusters, global value chains and platforms. We offer policy insights on the role of governments in stimulating innovation ecosystems and innovation-conducive environments.
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ItemExplaining Standard Dominance: The Effect of Influential Network Positions and Structural Holes( 2017-01-04)Innovative systems and infrastructures such as smart grids, the internet of things, cities, or highways require generally accepted common compatibility standards to enable components of such systems to interoperate. In some cases, various standards are developed by competing standards organizations, often resulting in standards battles. This paper focuses on factors that affect the outcome of these standards battles, and, specifically, on the effect of an influential position in an industry-wide standards networks and the existence of structural holes in that network on standard dominance. The empirical context is the consumer electronics, telecommunications, and ICT arenas. We conduct a study of 103 standards organizations from 2000 to 2011. We find support for the hypothesis that standards that are supported by standards organizations that have a central position in the industry-wide standards network have a high chance of achieving dominance. Thus, we show that apart from complementary assets and innovation strategies, firms can also adopt specific networking strategies to achieve a successful standard.
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ItemEmergence and Dissemination of Ecosystem Concept in Innovation Studies: A Systematic Literature Review Study( 2017-01-04)The abundant academic literature on ecosystem approach has attracted the attention of many researchers in various fields (such as business and management, innovation and entrepreneurship). The debate is questioning whether ecosystem as a concept is going towards a matured path. This article, contributes to this debate by applying bibliometric analysis approach on two similar comparable concepts of “system” and “ecosystem” within the boundaries of Business and Management (B&M) discipline. The co-citation analysis shows that the “system” concept is structured on a stable body of references and disseminated into various fields and subdomains. While the “ecosystem” concept is at early development phase, and it is expected to be identified as a distinguished field which provides explicit added value to innovation related research community. This paper provides the network structure of the collaborating authors, compares the disseminating pattern of the concepts and performs an advance topical analysis of respected literatures.
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