Digital platform ecosystems

Andreas Hein,Maximilian Schreieck,Manuel Wiesche,Helmut Krcmar,Tobias Riasanow,Markus Böhm,David Soto Setzke

doi:10.1007/s12525-019-00377-4

Andreas Hein, Maximilian Schreieck + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12525-019-00377-4

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Abstract

Digital platforms are an omnipresent phenomenon that challenges incumbents by changing how we consume and provide digital products and services. Whereas traditional firms create value within the boundaries of a company or a supply chain, digital platforms utilize an ecosystem of autonomous agents to co-create value. Scholars from various disciplines, such as economics, technology management, and information systems have taken different perspectives on digital platform ecosystems. In this Fundamentals article, we first synthesize research on digital platforms and digital platform ecosystems to provide a definition that integrates both concepts. Second, we use this definition to explain how different digital platform ecosystems vary according to three core building blocks: (1) platform ownership, (2) value-creating mechanisms, and (3) complementor autonomy. We conclude by giving an outlook on four overarching research areas that connect the building blocks: (1) technical properties and value creation; (2) complementor interaction with the ecosystem; (3) value capture; and (4) the make-or-join decision in digital platform ecosystems.

Highlights

Regarding its digital platform ecosystems with more than 13,000 partners, the software company SAP stated, “reaching our full potential depends on how well we enable our partners, providing them with [the] tools they need to accelerate growth and exceed customer expectations in an increasingly complex world.” (SAP Partner Edge 2017)
We suggest that three attributes are essential when discussing the different variants of digital platform ecosystems: (1) platform ownership, (2) value-creating mechanisms, and (3) the autonomy of complementors
Whereas the literature on boundary resources only combines the social and technical paradigms (Eaton et al 2015), we suggest a paradigm shift by integrating the intraorganizational technical perspectives on digital platforms and the inter-organizational economic, business, and social perspectives on ecosystems

Summary

Introduction

Regarding its digital platform ecosystems with more than 13,000 partners, the software company SAP stated, “reaching our full potential depends on how well we enable our partners, providing them with [the] tools they need to accelerate growth and exceed customer expectations in an increasingly complex world.” (SAP Partner Edge 2017). We suggest that three attributes are essential when discussing the different variants of digital platform ecosystems: (1) platform ownership, (2) value-creating mechanisms, and (3) the autonomy of complementors.

Results

Conclusion