Journal of Information Technology· 2017Q1
The Digital Platform: A Research Agenda
- 1,596citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2017year
Short summary
This paper proposes a research agenda for digital platforms in Information Systems (IS), emphasizing conceptual clarity, proper scoping, and methodological rigor.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Recommends advancing conceptual clarity by defining the unit of analysis, degree of digitality, and sociotechnical nature of digital platforms.
- Suggests defining the scope of digital platform concepts by studying them at different architectural levels and in various industry settings.
- Proposes advancing methodological rigor using embedded case studies, longitudinal studies, design research, and data-driven modeling.
- Presents six key research questions, including the longevity of platforms, their design, industry transformation, data-driven approaches, theory development, and impact on everyday life.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
As digital platforms are transforming almost every industry today, they are slowly finding their way into the mainstream information systems (ISs) literature. Digital platforms are a challenging research object because of their distributed nature and intertwinement with institutions, markets and technologies. New research challenges arise as a result of the exponentially growing scale of platform innovation, the increasing complexity of platform architectures and the spread of digital platforms to many different industries. This paper develops a research agenda for digital platforms research in IS. We recommend researchers seek to (1) advance conceptual clarity by providing clear definitions that specify the unit of analysis, degree of digitality and the sociotechnical nature of digital platforms; (2) define the proper scoping of digital platform concepts by studying platforms on different architectural levels and in different industry settings; and (3) advance methodological rigour by employing embedded case studies, longitudinal studies, design research, data-driven modelling and visualisation techniques. Considering current developments in the business domain, we suggest six questions for further research: (1) Are platforms here to stay? (2) How should platforms be designed? (3) How do digital platforms transform industries? (4) How can data-driven approaches inform digital platforms research? (5) How should researchers develop theory for digital platforms? and (6) How do digital platforms affect everyday life?
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Journal of Information Technology, 2017 · DOI ↗
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Field: Strategy and Management
Strategy and ManagementBusiness, Management and Accounting