Business model platformization drives social value—A configuration research based on the technology‐organization‐environment framework

Abstract

AbstractData connectivity is driving a shift in corporate business models toward social responsibility and stakeholder orientation, but existing research has focused on the significant increase in business value from business model platformization and has failed to answer the question of “what kind of business model platformization creates high social value in what contexts.” Business model platformization features are decomposed into three‐dimensional components of technology, architecture, and capability, and the external environment in which the business model creates value is segmented in terms of demand evolution and peer competition. This paper develops a technology–organization–environment (TOE) configurational framework, adopts fuzzy‐set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), collects data from 42 enterprises with business model platformization, and analyzes what combinations of digital intelligence technology, platform architecture, dynamic capability, demand evolution, and peer competition constitute a high social value configuration. The study suggests that four configurations of the three main types, resource‐driven, demand‐driven, and total factor‐driven, constitute equivalent paths to high social value. With the help of the TOE framework to identify the configurations of business model platformization to create high social value, this paper provides theoretical support for enterprises aiming to create high social value in the face of peer competition and joint changes in the demand environment to choose the appropriate path of business model platformization from their own point of view.