I am delighted to present the second 2017 JITCAR issue. It is a special issue on the theme of ecosystem platforms co-edited by Drs. Sumedha Chauhan, Mahadeo Jaiswal, and Gaurav Bansal. The contents of this issue are: editorial preface article by Drs. Sandip Mukohpadhyaya and Harry Bouwman; first research case article co-authored by Drs. Ruben Mancha, Steven Gordon, and Bala Iyer; second research case article authored by Dr. Pradeep Kumar Hota, Mr. Boby Chaitanya Villari, and Mr. Balaji Subramanian; expert opinion report by Dr. Sumedha Chauhan; and book review by Dr. Vivek Kumar. Summary information of these items is as follows.
In the editorial preface article titled, “Multi-Actor Collaboration in Platform Based Ecosystem,” the authors highlight how a leader can exploit key technical and business attributes of the platform to achieve improved organizational performance with limited coordination overhead. The authors discuss the key governance challenges for a sustainable platform leadership strategy that leads to benefits for the platform leader, as well as for the ecosystem partners. They go on to highlight the important contextual differences related to the application of control mechanism in platform-centric ecosystems. Unlike other interorganizational partnerships, ecosystem leaders do not have formal authority over a large number of application developers and other partners. At the end, several complementary research questions have been proposed.
First research article is titled, “Figayou Pursues a Platform Strategy: A Case Study of Digital Platform Entrepreneurship.” Entrepreneurs of next generation of digital technologies will have to position their innovations either as a product/service, or as a platform for value creation and value capture. If the startup decides to pursue the platform model, how should it balance the building of its core technologies, and designing incentives and rules? These questions are explored through the case of Figayou, a startup with unique mobile technologies.
Second research case article is titled, “Developing Platform Ecosystem for Resource Mobilization: The Case of Social Enterprises in India.” The authors argue that platform ecosystem can help social enterprises face up to the dual challenges of financial sustainability and social value creation. Through a case study of two social enterprises operating in India, the authors present the evolution of platform ecosystem and its linkages with other aspects, such as resource challenges, legitimacy building, and achievement of organizational mission.
The expert opinion report documents interview by Dr. Sumedha Chauhan with Dr. Sandeep Goyal, a techno-management professional having more than 20 years of professional experience with organizations like TCS, Amdocs, EDS, and HCL Technologies. He has worked across different geographies globally on the client delivery side analyzing in-depth customer business requirements to recommend appropriate IT solutions while balancing expectations of diverse stakeholders and also meeting scope, schedule, cost, quality, and customer satisfaction parameters. He is certified in Information Technology Infrastructure Library, Six Sigma Black Belt, and Project Management Professional. Besides industry expertise, he has been a visiting faculty and industry expert to the leading management and technology institutions in India in the areas involve e-commerce strategy, globalization, social entrepreneurship, and business models. He has published more than 18 research papers in leading international business management journals, and 7 teaching cases in Ivey Publishing and Emerald Emerging Markets Case Studies (EEMCS). He has reviewed manuscripts submitted to top management journals like Thunderbird International Business Review, Journal of Management Development, North American Case Research Association, EEMCS, Journal of Cleaner Production, and Long Range Planning. Questions posed to Dr. Goyal are: (a) Platform ecosystems has been a popular phrase in recent times. However, people don’t understand it completely. How would you define platform and platform ecosystems? (b) What is the fundamental idea behind platforms and how do they work? (c) Could you please highlight a few key features of platform? (d) What trends led us to the platform age? (e) How does platform create network effects? Whether the effect is positive or negative? (f) How do you recommend building platforms? (g) What major risks and challenges can be faced by a firm while transforming a product or service into a platform? (h) Which industry is mostly impacted by platform ecosystems and how? (i) What can a business do to build intimacy with customers in the platform era? (j) What can be the long-term implications of building platforms?
Book review report by Dr. Vivek Kumar provides a detailed critique of the 2013 book titled, “Platform Ecosystems: Aligning Architecture, Governance, and Strategy” authored by Amrit Tiwana and published by Murgan Kaufman Publishers. This book is about millions of apps on iOS and Android Operating system that are causing a paradigm shift in organization—big or small, private or public, for-profit or philanthropic. Platforms provide a foundation on which firms build their products and services. Functionality and features offered by these apps developed by independent developers determine the value that can be offered by the platforms. This book is an optimal mix of information technology and management strategy regarding platform ecosystems. Starting from defining platforms, the book provides a solid foundation on architecture, governance, and strategy of platforms. Part I covers core concepts, primary principles, drivers, and value proposition of ecosystems and platforms. Part II discusses platform architecture and governance. Since components of platforms may interact in unpredictable manner, platforms have to be simple, resilient, maintainable, and evolvable. Platform governance is likened symphonies, while traditional organizations are likened to armies. Part III pertains to evolution of platforms and emphasizes the importance of metrics, “real options” approach, and discrete modular operations. Part IV emphasizes that platforms need to be adaptive, innovative, and its resources need to be valuable, rare, inimitable, and non-substitutable. It also emphasizes that similar to platforms, app owners need to manage resilience, synergy, and composability for continued evolution in the short-term; and durability and mutation in the long-term. Part V asserts that most traditional industries can be redesigned as platforms citing examples of General Motors, Black and Decker, Komatsu, and even Starbucks.
Routledge, in line with the ongoing trends, has published this journal online since 2014. The website to find all JITCAR issues is: http://www.tandfonline.com/utca. All authors and reviewers are encouraged to start using Routledge’s online manuscript submission and reviewing system http://www.editorialmanager.com/jitcar/. I urge all our current and future authors and reviewers to familiarize themselves with this system.
I hope you will enjoy reading all the items in this issue. With best regards,
Sincerely