Software Platform Ecosystems

Symbolische Darstellung zur Software Plattform
The development of software increasingly takes place in line with an inter-firm division of labor. In doing so, the product ranges of large software platform providers (so-called hubs) are supplemented by software solutions from other, often smaller suppliers (the so-called spokes). In turn, this leads to the formation of so-called software platform ecosystems.
Symbolische Darstellung des Ecosystems

The coordination of such corporate networks provides both scholars and practitioners with special challenges. Software platform ecosystems are characterized by various tensions, describable with three pairs of opposites: cooperation versus competition, trust versus control, and autonomy versus dependency. These pairs of opposites render the exploration of these corporate networks utterly appealing, as they characterize them as being imbued by power asymmetries and conflicts of interest. Research in this area therefore focusses on the following action-guiding question: How can cooperation be designed smoothly in such a corporate network?

Publications

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