Value Appropriation Strategies for Interorganizational Data Sharing – a Case Study

Interorganizational data sharing (IODS) grows increasingly complex in the context of business ecosystems. As the literature on IODS finds that organizations only share data if they perceive benefits from it, this study explores value appropriation strategies (VAS) through an ongoing inductive case study of the German orthopedic ecosystem, exploiting interview and secondary data from executives of various treatment facilities and a leading manufacturer of health products. Our preliminary grounded theorizing indicates that VAS for IODS involve four elements (partner selection, data tailoring, reciprocal design, and control enforcement) that each are realized by specific VAS activities. Further, we find that, different from other contexts, ensuring VAS for IODS is not about controlling the value creation process but is grounded in upstream strategic decisions. This understanding of VAS for IODS indicates that having strategies for value appropriation in place before diving into IODS is crucial for succeeding in data ecosystems

Opportunity or Threat: A Complementors’ Perspective on Platform Owner’s Acquisitions

Acquisition of complementors is a prevailing mechanism available to platform owners to leverage digital platforms’ multidimensional growth. Notwithstanding platform owners’ propensity to acquire complementors, little is known about the potential effects of such acquisitions on the non-acquired complementors. While a group of complementors may benefit from an acquisition, others may perceive an acquisition as the platform owner entering into competition with its own complementors. To address this gap, we examine the acquisition of complementors’ effects on the other complementors in the context of a B2B innovation platform whose evolution is considerably influenced by a plethora of acquisitions. As part of an ongoing research project, in this paper we link academic discourses on acquisitions and platform owners’ market entry to derive a set of hypotheses, which we plan to test in the respective B2B innovation platform ecosystem

Adoption of Software Platforms: Reviewing Influencing Factors and Outlining Future Research

Software platforms have received attention as the dominant model for cooperative software development. Growing the ecosystems around software platforms through increasing adoption by users and developers is of great importance for platform owners. However, there is a lack of research on how to increase adoption and growth of software platforms systematically. To address this issue, we conduct a literature review and make an in-depth analysis to uncover and organize factors that drive adoption of software platforms. Additionally, we derive effective directions of these factors on the respective sides. Finally, we outline three avenues for future research: aligning research on platform governance and platform launch and growth, taking an evolutionary, growth-oriented perspective on governance of software platforms and further detailing platform launch and growth strategies towards a design theory for platform launch. This paper contributes to the understanding of software platforms by reviewing factors driving adoption and triggering network effects

Governance Mechanisms in Digital Platform Ecosystems: Addressing the Generativity-Control Tension

Digital platform owners repeatedly face paradoxical design decisions with regard to their platforms’ generativity and control, requiring them to facilitate co-innovation whilst simultaneously retaining control over third-party complementors. To address this challenge, platform owners deploy a variety of governance mechanisms. However, researchers and practitioners currently lack a coherent understanding of what major governance mechanisms platform owners rely on to simultaneously foster generativity and control. Conducting a structured literature review, we connect the fragmented academic discourse on governance mechanisms with each aspect of the generativity-control tension. Next to providing avenues for prospective digital platform research, we elaborate on the double-sidedness of governance mechanisms in fostering both generativity and control

Governance Mechanisms in Digital Platform Ecosystems: Addressing the Generativity-Control Tension

Digital platform owners repeatedly face paradoxical design decisions with regard to their platforms’ generativity and control, requiring them to facilitate co-innovation whilst simultaneously retaining control over third-party complementors. To address this challenge, platform owners deploy a variety of governance mechanisms. However, researchers and practitioners currently lack a coherent understanding of what major governance mechanisms platform owners rely on to simultaneously foster generativity and control. Conducting a structured literature review, we connect the fragmented academic discourse on governance mechanisms with each aspect of the generativity-control tension. Next to providing avenues for prospective digital platform research, we elaborate on the double-sidedness of governance mechanisms in fostering both generativity and control

Trends in digital entertainment: a multiple case study of video and digital comic service platforms

This research involved trends in video and digital comic service platforms. Four existing video and comic players were analysed by gathering information from publicly available sources. The aim was to create a picture of the existing market by looking at the differences and similarities among the existing players. The existing players were then compared with a new upcoming service platform, which combines both videos and digital comics. Information from this player was gathered by interviewing the company behind the service. A literature review of platforms, digital platforms and platform theories was completed, followed by a theoretical platform leading to the choice of framework for analysing the case companies. Data collection, methodology and limitations of the study are then presented. The empirical part of the study focuses on analysing the companies by using the chosen framework, leading to a picture of the current players, the upcoming player and the market situation. The results of the study showed that many of the theories of platforms and digital platforms in previous literature are valid for today’s video and digital comic service platforms. The study emphasized the network effects between user groups. Most of the existing players were not utilizing these network effects as effectively as they could, which created an opportunity for a new market entrant. This study is limited by the small sample size of analysed platforms. In addition, most of the data was gathered from publicly available sources, which makes the analysis less reliable. Video and digital comic service platform markets keep changing and improving at a fast pace. This means that data provided in this study might be outdated fairly quickly

Reconceptualizing platforms in information systems research through the lens of service-dominant logic

Platforms have gained significant attention in the field of information systems (IS) research. However, the concept of platforms remains fluid and complex due to the diverse phenomena associated with it. Research to date tends to cluster around two predominant perspectives: the economic network perspective and the architectural design perspective. To reconcile the divergent perspectives of platforms and establish a more cohesive foundation for IS theorizing, we undertake an interpretive literature review through the lens of service-dominant (S-D) logic. Drawing on an extensive analysis of the literature, we develop an S-D Platform Framework that provides a deep understanding of the multifaceted nature of platforms as a vital IS capability for value co-creation. This framework sheds light on the fundamental facets of relationality, ambidexterity, and cooperativity, which explain the deep structure of platforms in the realm of IS research. Building on our proposed framework, we put forth an agenda that aims to guide future studies towards a more theoretically compelling trajectory

Digital Twin in the IoT context: a survey on technical features, scenarios and architectural models

Digital Twin is an emerging concept that is gaining attention in various industries. It refers to the ability to clone a physical object into a software counterpart. The softwarized object, termed logical object, reflects all the important properties and characteristics of the original object within a specific application context. To fully determine the expected properties of the Digital Twin, this paper surveys the state of the art starting from the original definition within the manufacturing industry. It takes into account related proposals emerging in other fields, namely, Augmented and Virtual Reality (e.g., avatars), Multi-agent systems, and virtualization. This survey thereby allows for the identification of an extensive set of Digital Twin features that point to the “softwarization” of physical objects. To properly consolidate a shared Digital Twin definition, a set of foundational properties is identified and proposed as a common ground outlining the essential characteristics (must-haves) of a Digital Twin. Once the Digital Twin definition has been consolidated, its technical and business value is discussed in terms of applicability and opportunities. Four application scenarios illustrate how the Digital Twin concept can be used and how some industries are applying it. The scenarios also lead to a generic DT architectural Model. This analysis is then complemented by the identification of software architecture models and guidelines in order to present a general functional framework for the Digital Twin. The paper, eventually, analyses a set of possible evolution paths for the Digital Twin considering its possible usage as a major enabler for the softwarization process