Platform, ecosystem and digital innovation

This lecture will focus on the review and the comparison within and between the platform literature and the ecosystem literature, with a concern of their applicability in the background of digitalization. It is based on one working paper with slight extension in literature. It starts by arguing that the platform field as a whole ignores environmental contingencies of platform dynamics, leaving an open question that to what extent strategies established in platform literature could be applied to complex settings such as digitalization. The platform literature is reviewed in the first section and the important role of environmental complexities for understanding digital innovations is explained in the second section. In the third section, after reviewing ecosystem literature, the ecosystem co-evolutionism is recommended as a theoretical lens to address the above gap. It finally uses a longitudinal case study, in the fourth section, to illustrate the logical differences between the platform thinking and the ecosystem thinking. 

Selected reference: 

Adner, R., 2017. Ecosystem as Structure: An Actionable Construct for Strategy. Journal of Management 43, 39–58.

Afuah, A., 2013. Are network effects really all about size? The role of structure and conduct. Strategic Management Journal 34, 257–273.

Boudreau, K.J., Hagiu, A., 2009. Platform Rules: Multi-Sided Platforms as Regulators, in: Platform, Markets and Innovation. pp. 163–191.

Gawer, A., 2014. Bridging differing perspectives on technological platforms: Toward an integrative framework. Research Policy 43, 1239–1249.

Hagiu, A., Wright, J., 2015. Multi-sided platforms. International Journal of Industrial Organization 43, 162–174.

Hinings, B., Gegenhuber, T., Greenwood, R., 2018. Digital innovation and transformation: An institutional perspective. Information and Organization 28, 52–61.

Jacobides, M.G., Cennamo, C., Gawer, A., 2018. Towards a theory of ecosystems. Strategic Management Journal 39, 2255–2276.

Lusch, R.F., Nambisan, S., 2015. Service Innovation: A Service-Dominant Logic Perspective. MIS Quarterly 39, 155–175.

Lusch, R.F., Vargo, S.L., Gustafsson, A., 2016. Fostering a trans-disciplinary perspectives of service ecosystems. Journal of Business Research 69, 2957–2963.

Moore, J.F., 2006. Business Ecosystems and the View from the Firm. The Antitrust Bulletin 51, 31–75.

Thomas, L.D.W., Autio, E., Gann, D.M., 2014. Architectural Leverage: Putting Platforms in Context. Academy of Management Perspectives 28, 198–219.

Tiwana, A., Konsynski, B., Bush, A.A., 2010. Research Commentary-Platform Evolution: Coevolution of Platform Architecture, Governance, and Environmental Dynamics. Information Systems Research 21, 675–687.

Vargo, S.L., Lusch, R.F., 2017. Service-dominant logic 2025. International Journal of Research in Marketing 34, 46–67.

Vial, G., 2019. Understanding digital transformation: A review and a research agenda. Journal of Strategic Information Systems 28, 118–144.

Yoo, Y., Boland, R.J., Lyytinen, K., Majchrzak, A., 2012. Organizing for Innovation in the Digitized World. Organization Science 23, 1398–1408.