Platforms and Ecosystems
/Research Curation Team¹:
Marshall Van Alstyne (Boston University), mva@bu.edu
Geoffrey Parker (Dartmouth), Geoffrey.G.Parker@dartmouth.edu
Annabelle Gawer (University of Surrey), a.gawer@surrey.ac.uk
Amrit Tiwana (University of Georgia), tiwana@uga.edu
Feng Zhu (Harvard Business School), fzhu@hbs.edu
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1. Focus of the research curation
The success of platforms such as Amazon, Alibaba, Google, Uber, Netflix and Facebook has generated great interest. There is now a large body of research in MIS Quarterly on platforms (and the closely associated concept of ecosystems), with the first paper being Taudes et al. (2000). This curation brings readers up to date on the nature of research on platforms and ecosystems in MIS Quarterly, the major topics covered, and thematic advances over time.
In this curation, we define platforms as “open, participative infrastructure” that create “value for all participants” (Parker et al., 2016, p. 123). Platforms consummate matches among producers and consumers that are external to firms, hence “inverting firms” (Parker et al., 2017). Under a platform business model, producers and consumers often provide much, if not all, of the value created as distinct from having the firm itself produce that value. Numerous issues then arise regarding who creates and who captures the value.
The concept of ecosystems is complementary to platforms especially with respect to an open architecture that reduces transaction costs. Jacobides et al. (2018) define ecosystems as “interacting organizations, enabled by modularity, not hierarchically managed, bound together by the nonredeployability of their collective investment elsewhere. Ecosystems add value as they allow managers to coordinate their multilateral dependence through sets of roles that face similar rules, thus obviating the need to enter into customized contractual agreements with each partner” (pg. 2255).
2. Methods for producing the curation
We conducted a keyword search on every MISQ article that mentioned either ‘platform’ or ‘ecosystem’ in the title or abstract up until end of 2022. This resulted in 81 relevant papers. We used Google Scholar to identify highly cited papers. We also clustered papers by their abstracts using an unsupervised machine learning algorithm. We also cross-checked the results with a website of published work on platforms that is continually updated (https://platformpapers.com/).
We identified three periods of papers, with research in the earliest period (2000-2007) being a smaller set (only four papers), focusing on words such as market, supply chain, and software; research in the next period (2008-2015) growing in size, and focusing on words such as innovation, social media, and network effects, and research in the third period (2016-2022) growing even further (to 41 papers), and focusing on words such as social media, healthcare, and ecosystem. We surveyed the authors of these papers to cross-check our classification with them and their feedback generally supported our interpretation of these periods.
3. Progress of research in MIS Quarterly
3.1 Thematic advances
Platform and ecosystems research in MISQ has exhibited three phases of evolution, roughly mirroring the three aforementioned periods.
The first phase identified phenomena that were novel or interesting, such as multi-sidedness, multi-homing, inter-platform competition, and network effects (Ceccagnoli et al., 2012; Gallaugher & Wang, 2002; Garg & Telang, 2013; Kallinikos et al., 2013). The second phase sought a deeper theoretical understanding of these phenomena for interpretation, explanation, prediction or control. These included economic theories of two-sided network effects, organizational theories of community building, governance, and technological theories of openness and modularity (Burtch et al., 2014; Etzion & Pang, 2014; Fichman et al., 2014; Gregory et al., 2018; Kane et al., 2014; Koh & Fichman, 2014; X. Li & Wu, 2018; Parker et al., 2017). More recently, the third phase has provided more fine-grained studies of specific mechanisms such as interfaces, compatibility, transaction fees, and types of network effects (Barua & Mukherjee, 2021; Benbya et al., 2020; Brunswicker et al., 2019; Hukal et al., 2020; Ilk et al., 2021; Malgonde et al., 2020; Song et al., 2018; Tian et al., 2022).
Theory has played a greater role over time, with papers in the first period being more empirically focused, papers in the second phase becoming more theoretical, and papers in the third phase emphasizing both theory and empirics. Focus areas have also shifted over time, from how platforms match (Ågerfalk & Fitzgerald, 2008; Koh & Fichman, 2014) to how they monitor and optimize (Chen et al., 2018; Lu et al., 2017; Möhlmann et al., 2021); from sources of external labor (Ågerfalk & Fitzgerald, 2008; Ceccagnoli et al., 2012; Ramasubbu et al., 2008) to empowerment (Deng et al., 2016; Jha et al., 2016); from transformation of the firm to effects on society (Faik et al., 2020; Wade et al., 2020); and from glorification (Banker et al., 2011; Fichman et al., 2014) to acknowledging a dark side (Kane et al., 2021; Ketter et al., 2016; Kitchens et al., 2020).
3.2 Citations, topics, industries
Platform research has been very highly cited. Very well-cited papers (i.e., having a marked influence on the discourse) include Rai et al. (2006), Chatterjee et al. (2002), Kane et al. (2014), Fichman et al. (2014), and Ceccagnoli et al. (2012).
Figure 1 shows trends in topics over time. Common topics examined in platform and ecosystem papers include network effects (which characterize a product or service that exhibits an increase in value to existing users as more participants use it), competition and strategy (which to advantage secured against competitors as well as advantages secured vis-a-vis ecosystem partners), governance (which refers to who may participate as well as the rules for creating and dividing value, and resolving conflict), and partner issues (which refer to attracting new partners, while managing their interactions with both with the platform and with other partners).
Research published from 2000 to 2008 largely considered topics such as launch/transformation (Adomavicius et al., 2008; Taudes et al., 2000), governance (Chatterjee et al., 2002; Hukal et al., 2020), network effects/prices (Gallaugher & Wang, 2002), modular/open systems (Adomavicius et al., 2008) and competition and strategy (Chatterjee et al., 2002; Gallaugher & Wang, 2002). Closely related issues included online communities (Bapna et al., 2019), search/matching (Malgonde et al., 2020), and partner issues (Ceccagnoli et al., 2012; H. Li et al., 2022). The number of publications increased significantly in later years (see accompanying InfoGraphic). Roughly 20% of papers cover topics related to network effects/prices and competition and strategy, followed by modular/open systems at 19% and governance at 12%. Most papers spanned at least one of these topics (approximately 91%).
Topics examined less frequently (which we classified as ‘other’ in Figure 1) include the metaverse and virtual worlds (Goel et al., 2011), learning (Ramasubbu et al., 2008), culture and geography (Burtch et al., 2014), service innovation (Barrett et al., 2015), knowledge sharing (Lu et al., 2017), information propagation (Kitchens et al., 2020), and information and innovation (Wang, 2021).
Platform research spans many industries. Figure 2 shows trends over time. Early research focused on manufacturing (Chatterjee et al., 2002; Taudes et al., 2000), tech sector/hardware (Adomavicius et al., 2008; Gallaugher & Wang, 2002) and software (Adomavicius et al., 2008; Gallaugher & Wang, 2002). Social media (Goel et al., 2011) and health care (Ransbotham & Kane, 2011) contexts gained prominence from 2011, with social media gaining even more interest from 2016. Many other industries have also been examined to a smaller extent, including online training/education(Goel et al., 2011), B2B exchanges/marketplaces (Koh & Fichman, 2014), and online lending (Burtch, 2014). Industry-agnostic studies are also common (Faik et al., 2020; Feng et al., 2020; Fichman et al., 2014; Guo et al., 2017; Leong et al., 2016; Malgonde et al., 2020; Wang, 2021).
3.3 Theory and methods
Figure 3 shows trends in theory over time. The theory base in MISQ papers has generally spanned three broad categories: economics, organizational theory, and technology. The distribution of research across each theory base has been relatively stable for about 15 years with approximately 40% economics, 28% organizational theory and 32% technology.
Figure 4 shows trends in methods over time. Scholars have used both empirical and theoretical methods to resolve platform and ecosystem questions. Historically, most papers have favored empirical methods. The ratios are approximately 75% empirical and 25% theoretical.
Figure 5 shows the focus on lifecycle stages. A platform lifecycle generally has four stages: launch, growth, maturity and decline. Early papers tended to focus on launch (Chatterjee et al., 2002; Taudes et al., 2000), growth (Gallaugher & Wang, 2002; Taudes et al., 2000), and maturity (Chatterjee et al., 2002). Research in the decline phase seemed to start in 2008 (Adomavicius et al., 2008). Overall, the maturity phase is the most commonly-studied (46%), while launch and growth are 24% and 26%, respectively. Only 4% of papers has covered the decline phase.
4. Conclusion
This curation summarizes the diverse range of research topics, industries, theories, and methods in platform-related research since its emergence in MISQ in 2000. The evolution of digital platforms has continuously reshaped business models, consumer behavior, and the broader socio-economic landscape. As technology advances, new challenges and opportunities are continuing to emerge, including, amongst others, the integration of emerging technologies into platforms (such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, and the Internet-of-Things), platform governance, socially responsible platforms, and platform globalization/localization. We hope this curation will help motivate even more research on platforms and ecosystems. Such research will be essential for understanding and shaping the trajectory of digital economy.
Endnotes:
[1] Research support provided by Sreevalli Sreenivasan, Dartmouth University.
Please cite this curation as follows: Van Alstyne, M., Parker, G., Gawer, A., Tiwana, A., Zhu, F., “Platforms and Ecosystems,” in MIS Quarterly Research Curations, Andrew Burton-Jones and Priya Seetharaman, Eds., https://www.misqresearchcurations.org/blog/2024/6/22/platforms-and-ecosystems, June 2024.
Appendix: MIS Quarterly Research Papers on Platforms and Ecosystems
| Citation | Theoretical/ Empirical | Primary Theoretical Focus | Secondary Theoretical Focus | Category | Industry Sectors | Phases involved |
| Adomavicius et al. (2008) | Theoretical | Technology | Launch / Transformation, Modular / Open Systems | Tech Sector / Hardware, Software, | Launch, Growth, Maturity, Decline | |
| Ågerfalk and Fitzgerald (2008) | Theoretical | Organizational | ||||
| Banker et al. (2011) | Empirical | Economics | Organizational | Finance | ||
| Bao et al. (2020) | Empirical | Economics | Technology | Launch / Transformation, Effect / value | Health Care | Growth |
| Bapna et al. (2019) | Empirical | Organizational | Competition & Strategy, Cultivating Online Communities, Network Effects / Prices, | Media / Social Media, Retail, | Launch, Growth | |
| Barrett et al. (2015) | Theoretical | Organizational | Launch / Transformation, Service Innovation | Multi-sector | Launch | |
| Barua and Mukherjee (2021) | Theoretical | Economics | ||||
| Belo and Ferreira (2022) | Empirical | Economics | Network Effects | |||
| Benbya et al. (2020) | Theoretical | Technology | ||||
| Breznitz et al. (2018) | Empirical | Economics | Technology | Governance, Competition & Strategy | Finance, Tech Sector / Hardware, Software | Launch |
| Brohman et al. (2020) | Empirical | Technology | Health Care | |||
| Brunswicker et al. (2019) | Theoretical | Organizational | Competition & Strategy, Modular / Open Systems | Launch, Growth, Maturity | ||
| Burtch et al. (2014) | Empirical | Economics | Technology | Geography, Culture / Usr Behavior, Network effects/price, user behavior | Finance, Online lending, Retail, Sharing Economy | Growth |
| Burtch and Chan (2019) | Empirical | Economics | Governance, Partner Issues | Health Care, Finance, | Growth, Maturity | |
| Ceccagnoli et al. (2012) | Empirical | Economics | Technology | Competition & Strategy, Partner Issues | Tech Sector / Hardware, Software, | Growth |
| Chatterjee et al. (2002) | Empirical | Technology | Organizational | Governance, Competition & Strategy | Companies in the manufacturing and services sector that were users of IT | Growth, Maturity |
| Chen et al. (2016) | Theoretical | Economics | Network Effects / Prices | Retail | Maturity | |
| Chen et al. (2018) | Empirical | Economics | Governance | Sharing Economy | Growth | |
| Chen and Guo (2022) | Theoretical | Economics | Partner Issues, Modular / Open Systems | Retail | Maturity | |
| Deng et al. (2016) | Empirical | Organizational | Economics | |||
| Eesley and Wu (2020) | Empirical | Technology | Organizational | Network Effects / Prices, Launch / Transformation | Tech Sector / Hardware, Software, | Launch |
| Etzion and Pang (2014) | Theoretical | Economics | ||||
| Faik et al. (2020) | Theoretical | Organizational | Governance, Modular / Open Systems | No Specific Industry | Maturity | |
| Feng et al. (2019) | Theoretical | Economics | Competition & Strategy, Launch / Transformation | Launch | ||
| Fichman et al. (2014) | Theoretical | Economics | Network Effects / Prices | Growth | ||
| Gallaugher and Wang (2002) | Empirical | Economics | Technology | Network Effects / Prices, Competition & Strategy, Launch / Transformation, Modular / Open Systems | Tech Sector / Hardware, Software, | Launch, Growth |
| Garg and Telang (2013) | Empirical | Economics | Network Effects / Prices, Competition & Strategy | Tech Sector / Hardware, Software, | Growth | |
| Geva, Barzilay, et al. (2019) | Empirical | Economics | Technology | Competition & Strategy | Sharing Economy | Maturity |
| Geva, Oestreicher-Singer, et al. (2011) | Empirical | Technology | Consumer behavior | Media / Social Media | Maturity | |
| Goel et al. (2011) | Empirical | Technology | Organizational | Metaverse, Virtual Worlds, Situated Learning | Media / Social Media, Training and Education, | Maturity |
| Gregory et al. (2018) | Empirical | Organizational | Governance, Launch / Transformation | Finance | Launch | |
| Gu and Tayi (2017) | Theoretical | Economics | ||||
| Guo et al. (2017) | Theoretical | Technology | Maturity | |||
| He et al. (2019) | Empirical | Technology | ||||
| Hinz et al. (2016) | Empirical | Economics | Network Effects / Prices | Media / Social Media, Retail, | Maturity | |
| Huang et al. (2017) | Empirical | Economics | Organizational | |||
| Huang et al. (2018) | Empirical | Economics | Launch / Transformation | Tech Sector / Hardware, Software, | Launch | |
| Hukal et al. (2020) | Empirical | Economics | Technology | Governance, Competition & Strategy | Tech Sector / Hardware, Software, | Growth |
| Ilk et al. (2021) | Empirical | Economics | Technology | Network Effects / Prices, Supply and demand | Finance, Tech Sector / Hardware, Software | Growth |
| Im et al. (2016) | Empirical | Economics | Network Effects / Prices, Competition & Strategy | Retail | Maturity | |
| Jha et al. (2016) | Theoretical | Technology | Finance | |||
| Kallinikos et al. (2013) | Theoretical | Economics | ||||
| Kane et al. (2014) | Theoretical | Economics | Organizational | |||
| Kane et al. (2021) | Theoretical | Technology | Organizational | Governance, Launch / Transformation | Media / Social Media, Retail, Health Care, Finance, Sharing Economy, Tech Sector / Hardware, Software, Professional Services | Launch |
| Kankanhalli et al. (2015) | Empirical | Organizational | Governance | Tech Sector / Hardware, Software, | Maturity | |
| Ketter et al. (2016a) | Empirical | Economics | Technology | Launch / Transformation, Modular / Open Systems | Retail, Sharing Economy, Tech Sector / Hardware, Software | Launch, Growth, Maturity |
| Ketter et al. (2016b) | Empirical | Economics | Technology | Governance, Competition & Strategy | Retail, Finance, Sharing Economy, Tech Sector / Hardware, Software, Energy and Mobility | Launch, Growth, Maturity |
| Kim and Visawanathan (2019) | Empirical | Economics | Network Effects / Prices | Finance, Sharing Economy, Tech Sector / Hardware, Software | Launch | |
| Kitchens et al. (2020) | Empirical | Technology | information propagation | Media / Social Media | Growth | |
| Koh and Fichman (2014) | Empirical | Economics | Organizational | Network Effects / Prices, Competition & Strategy | B2B exchanges/marketplaces | Growth, Maturity |
| Kwark et al. (2017) | Theoretical | Economics | Competition & Strategy | |||
| Leong et al. (2016) | Empirical | Economics | Organizational | Launch / Transformation | Launch, Growth, Maturity | |
| Li et al. (2019) | Empirical | Economics | Network Effects / Prices, Competition & Strategy | Media / Social Media, Retail, | Growth | |
| Li et al. (2022) | Empirical | Organizational | Competition & Strategy | Retail | Maturity | |
| Li and Wu (2022) | Theoretical | Technology | Network Effects / Prices | Media / Social Media, Retail, Sharing Economy, Tech Sector / Hardware, Software, | Growth | |
| Li et al. (2021) | Empirical | Organizational | Competition & Strategy, Partner Issues, Modular / Open Systems | Tech Sector / Hardware, Software, | Growth | |
| Liu et al. (2020) | Empirical | Economics | Technology | Partner Issues | Health Care | Maturity |
| Lu et al. (2017) | Empirical | Economics | Organizational | Network Effects / Prices, Knowledge sharing platforms | Media / Social Media | Growth |
| Malgonde et al. (2020) | Empirical | Technology | Organizational | Network Effects / Prices, Search Matching | Growth | |
| Miric et al. (2021) | Empirical | Economics | Technology | Governance, Partner Issues | Sharing Economy, Tech Sector / Hardware, Software | Launch, Growth |
| Mo et al. (2018) | Theoretical | Organizational | Crowdsourcing | |||
| Möhlmann et al. (2017) | Empirical | Technology | Organizational | Governance, Algorithmic Management | Sharing Economy, Transportation Services, | Growth |
| Parker et al. (2017) | Theoretical | Economics | Network Effects / Prices, Modular / Open Systems | Tech Sector / Hardware, Software, | Growth | |
| Rai et al. (2006) | Empirical | Organizational | Partner Issues | Supply Chain | ||
| Ramasubbu et al. (2008) | Empirical | Technology | ||||
| Ransbotham and Kane (2011) | Empirical | Organizational | Governance & Community | Health Care | Decline | |
| Rhue and Sundararajan (2019) | Empirical | Technology | Network Effects / Prices | Media / Social Media, Retail, | Growth | |
| Sandberg et al. (2020) | Empirical | Technology | Organizational | Competition & Strategy, Modular / Open Systems | Tech Sector / Hardware, Software, | Growth |
| Shore et al. (2018) | Empirical | Technology | Social Media | |||
| Song et al. (2018) | Empirical | Economics | Organizational | Network Effects / Prices, Governance | Tech Sector / Hardware, Software, | Growth |
| Sun et al. (2016) | Empirical | Economics | ||||
| Sun et al. (2021) | Empirical | Economics | Network Effects / Prices, Social Interaction | Retail, Sharing Economy, | Growth | |
| Taudes et al. (2000) | Empirical | Economics | Launch / Transformation, Valuation | Manufacturing | Launch, Growth | |
| Tian et al. (2022) | Theoretical | Economics | ||||
| Wade et al. (2020) | Empirical | Technology | Organizational | Social media | Media / Social Media, Human Resources, | Growth, Maturity |
| Wang et al. (2020) | Empirical | Economics | Competition & Strategy, Launch / Transformation | Media / Social Media, Retail, | Growth | |
| Wang (2021) | Theoretical | Technology | Organizational | Modular / Open Systems, Information and Innovation | Growth | |
| Woodard et al. (2013) | Theoretical | Economics | Technology | Competition & Strategy, Modular / Open Systems | Tech Sector / Hardware, Software, | Growth |
| Xu and Zhang (2013) | Empirical | Economics | Finance | |||
| Xue et al. (2021) | Empirical | Organizational | Finance | |||
| Ye and Kankanhalli (2018) | Empirical | Organizational | Governance, Partner Issues | Tech Sector / Hardware, Software, | Growth |
Bibliography
The companion InfoGraphic bibliography is ordered chronologically to show progression. The bibliography below is ordered alphabetically to facilitate lookup.
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Ågerfalk, P. J., & Fitzgerald, B. 2008. Outsourcing to an Unknown Workforce: Exploring Opensourcing as a Global Sourcing Strategy, MIS Quarterly, 32(2), 385–409. Also available at https://aisel.aisnet.org/misq/vol32/iss2/11/
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