Modular Change in Platform Ecosystems and Routine Mirroring in Organizations

Abstract

Organizational routines involve modular digital technologies that are part of larger platform ecosystems that often transcend organizational boundaries. Change in organizational routines is thus interwoven with innovation and associated change in digital platforms. To get at this “embedded” routine change, we use the concept of modular operators to conceptualize how changes to digital technologies in platform ecosystems are mirrored in changes in the organizational routines in which these technologies are implicated. We distinguish between enabling and constraining impacts and develop a set of propositions to move towards a theory of “routine mirroring.” We use the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) as a base example.