Introduction-Platforms and Infrastructures in the Digital Age
TL;DR: This editorial reviews key insights from the literature on digital infrastructures and platforms, present emerging research themes, highlight the contributions developed from each of the six articles in this special issue, and conclude with suggestions for further research.
Abstract: In the last few years, leading-edge research from information systems, strategic management, and economics have separately informed our understanding of platforms and infrastructures in the digital age. Our motivation for undertaking this special issue rests in the conviction that it is significant to discuss platforms and infrastructures concomitantly, while enabling knowledge from diverse disciplines to cross-pollinate to address critical, pressing policy challenges and inform strategic thinking across both social and business spheres. In this editorial, we review key insights from the literature on digital infrastructures and platforms, present emerging research themes, highlight the contributions developed from each of the six articles in this special issue, and conclude with suggestions for further research.
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TL;DR: A framework of digital transformation articulated across eight building blocks is built that foregrounds digital transformation as a process where digital technologies create disruptions triggering strategic responses from organizations that seek to alter their value creation paths while managing the structural changes and organizational barriers that affect the positive and negative outcomes of this process.
Abstract: Extant literature has increased our understanding of specific aspects of digital transformation, however we lack a comprehensive portrait of its nature and implications. Through a review of 282 works, we inductively build a framework of digital transformation articulated across eight building blocks. Our framework foregrounds digital transformation as a process where digital technologies create disruptions triggering strategic responses from organizations that seek to alter their value creation paths while managing the structural changes and organizational barriers that affect the positive and negative outcomes of this process. Building on this framework, we elaborate a research agenda that proposes [1] examining the role of dynamic capabilities, and [2] accounting for ethical issues as important avenues for future strategic IS research on digital transformation.
1,787 citations
TL;DR: A systematic review of the literature finds four main clusters in the co-citation analysis, namely Technology, Trust, Trade, and Traceability/Transparency, and discusses the emerging themes and applications of blockchains for supply chains, logistics and transport.
Abstract: This paper presents current academic and industrial frontiers on blockchain application in supply chain, logistics and transport management. We conduct a systematic review of the literature and find four main clusters in the co-citation analysis, namely Technology, Trust, Trade, and Traceability/Transparency. For each cluster, and based on the pool of articles included in it, we apply an inductive method of reasoning and discuss the emerging themes and applications of blockchains for supply chains, logistics and transport. We conclude by discussing the main themes for future research on blockchain technology and its application in industry and services.
437 citations
432 citations
TL;DR: The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies as mentioned in this paper is an excellent overview of the second machine age and its evolution in the 21st century.
Abstract: (2016). The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies. Quality Management Journal: Vol. 23, No. 1, pp. 72-72.
318 citations
TL;DR: This Fundamentals article first synthesize research on digital platforms and digital platform ecosystems to provide a definition that integrates both concepts, and uses this definition to explain how differentdigital platform ecosystems vary according to three core building blocks.
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.
304 citations
References
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01 Jan 1990TL;DR: In this paper, an institutional approach to the study of self-organization and self-governance in CPR situations is presented, along with a framework for analysis of selforganizing and selfgoverning CPRs.
Abstract: Preface 1. Reflections on the commons 2. An institutional approach to the study of self-organization and self-governance in CPR situations 3. Analyzing long-enduring, self-organized and self-governed CPRs 4. Analyzing institutional change 5. Analyzing institutional failures and fragilities 6. A framework for analysis of self-organizing and self-governing CPRs Notes References Index.
16,852 citations
"Introduction-Platforms and Infrastr..." refers background in this paper
...Such nesting would distribute responsibilities and incentives across stakeholders, with each layer dealing with similar types of issues but at a progressively larger scale, and lesser level of detail (cf. McGinnis 1999, Ostrom 1990)....
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10,424 citations
"Introduction-Platforms and Infrastr..." refers background in this paper
...Such nesting would distribute responsibilities and incentives across stakeholders, with each layer dealing with similar types of issues but at a progressively larger scale, and lesser level of detail (cf. McGinnis 1999, Ostrom 1990)....
[...]
TL;DR: In this paper, a theory of costly contracts is presented, which emphasizes the contractual rights can by of two types: specific rights and residual rights, and when it is costly to list all specific rights over assets, it may be optimal to let one party purchase all residual rights.
Abstract: Our theory of costly contracts emphasizes the contractual rights can by of two types: specific rights and residual rights. When it is costly to list all specific rights over assets in the contract, it may be optimal to let one party purchase all residual rights. Ownership is the purchase of these residual rights. When residual rights are purchased by one party, they are lost by a second party, and this inevitably creates distortions. Firm 1 purchases firm 2 when firm 1's control increases the productivity of its management more than the loss of control decreases the productivity of firm 2's management.
8,850 citations
"Introduction-Platforms and Infrastr..." refers methods in this paper
...For example, research on vertical integration and the theory of the firm (Grossman and Hart 1986, Hart and Moore 1990) has focused on “makeor-buy” decisions, with implications as to the level of control a firm retains while seeking to build inhouse capabilities versus sourcing those from third…...
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide a framework for addressing the question of when transactions should be carried out within a firm and when through the market, by identifying a firm with the assets that its owners control.
Abstract: This paper provides a framework for addressing the question of when transactions should be carried out within a firm and when through the market. Following Grossman and Hart, we identify a firm with the assets that its owners control. We argue that the crucial difference for party 1 between owning a firm (integration) and contracting for a service from another party 2 who owns this firm (nonintegration) is that, under integration, party 1 can selectively fire the workers of the firm (including party 2), whereas under nonintegration he can "fire" (i.e., stop dealing with) only the entire firm: the combination of party 2, the workers, and the firm's assets. We use this idea to study how changes in ownership affect the incentives of employees as well as those of owner-managers. Our framework is broad enough to encompass more general control structures than simple ownership: for example, partnerships and worker and consumer cooperatives all emerge as special cases.
5,057 citations
"Introduction-Platforms and Infrastr..." refers methods in this paper
...For example, research on vertical integration and the theory of the firm (Grossman and Hart 1986, Hart and Moore 1990) has focused on “makeor-buy” decisions, with implications as to the level of control a firm retains while seeking to build inhouse capabilities versus sourcing those from third…...
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TL;DR: Sassen's seminal work as discussed by the authors chronicles how New York, London, and Tokyo became command centers for the global economy and in the process underwent a series of massive and parallel changes.
Abstract: This classic work chronicles how New York, London, and Tokyo became command centers for the global economy and in the process underwent a series of massive and parallel changes. What distinguishes Sassen's theoretical framework is the emphasis on the formation of cross-border dynamics through which these cities and the growing number of other global cities begin to form strategic transnational networks. All the core data in this new edition have been updated, while the preface and epilogue discuss the relevant trends in globalization since the book originally came out in 1991.
4,685 citations
"Introduction-Platforms and Infrastr..." refers background in this paper
...Emerging in the aftermath of the gradual decline of monopoly-driven infrastructures and their privatization (see Graham and Marvin 2001, Sassen 2001), platformization benefited from the decentralization of infrastructure governance and the unbundling of its use....
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