Digital transformation of business ecosystems: Evidence from the Korean pop industry

The notion of business ecosystems is gaining prominence among academics and practitioners. Scholars advise that business ecosystems are inherently fluid, unbounded and amorphous and thus that their boundaries can shift. Practitioners further suggest that business ecosystems are characterised by inter‐network – as opposed to inter‐firm – competition, and, moreover, that they are mainly driven by technological advancements. And yet few studies examine the role of information technology (IT) in driving boundary practices that enable the formation and transformation of business ecosystems. Through an in‐depth case study of technology‐enabled transformations within the Korean pop music (K‐pop) industry, our study examines how the digital transformation of business ecosystems unfolded. Our study contributes to the emergent body of knowledge on business ecosystems in a number of ways. Our investigations uncover the conditions under which the constituent firms operate and analyse the role of IT and its implications on new organisational forms. From our analysis, we present a framework that reveals insights on critical boundary practices and formative strategies for digital business ecosystems. We illustrate how these boundary practices drive industry change, from a largely linear content delivery system resembling a value chain to a new value network of co‐specialisation and self‐organisation among firms in a new digital business ecosystem.     

Dynamics of control on digital platforms

Digital platforms are supraorganizational entities that use digital technology to facilitate interactions between diverse actors, leading to novel forms of organisation and accompanying forms of control. The current Information Systems (IS) literature, however, struggles to describe control on digital platforms in a way that does justice to the dynamic character of the phenomenon. Taking this as an opportunity, we follow the enactment of control over time and across parties in a hybrid ethnographic study of the social commerce platform Poshmark. Specifically, we conceptualise the dynamics of control as changes in the means of control—formal or informal—and the sources of control—operator or participants—over time. Tracking these conceptual dimensions, we identify the distinct ways control has changed on Poshmark. Synthesising these findings into four dynamics of control, we show that control on digital platforms is rarely static due to aggregate effects arising from the operator and from participant interactions with each other through the digital features deployed on the platform. Based on these insights, our study contributes to the IS literature on control by broadening the conception of control on digital platforms. The theoretical and practical insights generated in this paper thereby lay the foundation for the systematic study of the dynamics of control that are unique to platform environments.     

Aligning with new digital strategy: A dynamic capabilities approach

Prior IS research has not fully addressed the aligning process in the highly dynamic context of digital strategy. To address this gap, we conduct a longitudinal analysis of a B2B company's journey to enact its B2C digital strategy, using the dynamic capabilities approach. We found that as an organization shifts towards a digital strategy, misalignments between the emergent strategy and resources give rise to tension. Our study resulted in the development of an aligning process model that is comprised of three phases (exploratory, building, and extending) and generalizable organizational aligning actions that form the organization's sensing, seizing, and transforming capacities. These aligning actions iteratively reconfigured organizational resources and refined strategy in order to respond to both changes in the environment and internal tensions. We also recognized that there are challenges to alignment, and conceptualized them as paradoxical tensions. This provided insights as to how such tensions are triggered and how they can be addressed. Finally, by applying the dynamic capabilities approach to aligning, we also show that alignment is not separate from such capabilities, but that aligning is enacted through the sensing, seizing and transforming capacities and their attendant aligning actions.     

Responsible innovation with digital platforms: Cases in India and Canada

Marginalized communities globally encounter grand challenges such as lack of access to education, healthcare, and sustained livelihoods. Several initiatives to address these complex, global problems have resulted in fragmented solutions. Recognizing this, there have been several calls for the study of responsible innovation (RI) to address grand challenges. Digital platforms such as AirBnB, Uber and so forth have now become commonplace and are known to generate economic value but also face criticism for being exploitative and exclusive. Only a handful of studies show how similar platforms can innovate responsibly to serve marginalized communities by generating simultaneous economic and social value. To address this gap, our study examines the cases of two platforms that orchestrated ecosystems consisting of individuals from marginalized communities, government agencies, and other entities to provide physical, digital and societal solutions based on principles of RI. We contribute to the RI and IS literatures to show how RI solutions can be fostered through digital platforms to address grand challenges. The article provides empirical evidence of all four dimensions of the RI framework—anticipation, reflexivity, inclusion, and responsiveness - and their operationalization through digital platforms. This research lays the foundation for future studies at the intersection of RI and digital platforms literature. The study also provides practice insights on developing digital platform solutions for marginalized communities to address grand challenges and is useful to policymakers to formulate appropriate interventions. It pushes the theoretical and practice boundaries of our understanding of RI and digital platforms.     

Identifying Areas of Tension in the field of technology-enhanced learning: Results of an international Delphi study

Despite steady progress in research in technology-enhanced learning (TEL), the translation of research findings and technology into educational practices falls short of expectations. We present five Areas of Tension which were identified and evaluated in an international Delphi study on TEL. These tensions might impede a more comprehensive inclusion of information and communication technologies (ICT) in educational settings. The Delphi study was embedded in the European Network of Excellence STELLAR (Sustaining Technology Enhanced Learning LArge-scale multidisciplinary Research). Five Delphi rounds were conducted to identify Areas of Tension and Core Research Areas in TEL. An Area of Tension opposes two conflicting views on a certain technological development regarding the future of TEL. In the present article we describe the design of the Delphi study and report the results regarding the Areas of Tension. These areas were identified by collecting visionary statements on the future of TEL (Round 1) and by having 230 international experts evaluate those statements (Round 2). The emerging tensions were integrated into five Areas of Tension (Round 3) and evaluated by 569 international experts on several dimensions for their significance for TEL and TEL research (Round 4). The identified areas concern a) data tracking for personalized learning versus data privacy, b) the spreading of technology reducing the digital divide versus even increasing it, c) ubiquitous learning opportunities versus critical and focused processing of information, d) continuous innovation in the classroom versus approved practices, and e) individualized versus standardized learning paths.     

Not all digital venture ideas are created equal: Implications for venture creation processes

Digital ventures are formed around ideas that have digital artifacts at their core. We develop theory that explains how the composition of digital artifacts influences venture creation processes. First, we develop propositions that link differences in the embodiment and coupling of digital artifact components to tensions in venture creation process inputs, behaviors, and outputs. Second, we link compositional differences in digital artifacts to differences in venture creation process initiation, duration, and outcome. Our theorizing establishes a foundation for future research on digital artifacts within and beyond entrepreneurship contexts, and for future research on entrepreneurship within and beyond digital artifact contexts.     

The post mortem paradox: a Delphi study of IT specialist perceptions

While post mortem evaluation (PME) has long been advocated as a means of improving development practices by learning from IT project failures, few organizations conduct PMEs. The purpose of the study is to explain this discrepancy between theory and practice. This paper integrates findings from a Delphi study of what experienced practitioners perceive as the most important barriers to conducting PMEs with insights from organizational learning theory. The results suggest that there are critical tensions between development practices and learning contexts in many organizations, and adopting PMEs in these cases is likely to reinforce organizational learning dysfunctions rather than improve current development practices. Based on these findings, we argue that the PME literature has underestimated the limits to learning in most IT organizations and we propose to explore paradoxical thinking to help researchers frame continued inquiry into PME and to help managers overcome learning dysfunctions as they push for more widespread use of PMEs.     

Orchestrating the digital transformation of a business ecosystem

The nature, scope, and impact of digital transformation reaches well beyond the boundaries of a single firm. This suggests information systems research should consider how digital transformation unfolds within business ecosystems that consist of multiple interdependent firms, and how this process can ideally be managed. We pursue this research opportunity by introducing orchestration as a concept through which to view digital transformation in business ecosystems, and by presenting empirical insights from a longitudinal in-depth case study that highlights how a focal firm became the orchestrator of digital transformation in its business ecosystem. We explain that becoming an orchestrator of digital transformation occurs through three distinct phases: initiating, opening-up, and integrating. We also identify the interplay of activities by which a focal firm strategizes, mobilizes, and aligns other actors and their resources, as it orchestrates the digital transformation of its business ecosystem. We conclude by outlining how our work serves as an important foundation for future information systems research and offer managerial guidelines outlining how to orchestrate digital transformation processes within business ecosystems.     

Balancing fluid and cemented routines in a digital workplace

Advanced workplace technologies are increasingly used alongside traditional enterprise software packages (such as enterprise resource planning) in the workplace. However, we have only limited understanding of how different kinds of technologies are used to dynamically shape work routines and fluidity in a digital workplace. We conducted an in-depth six-year study of the use of enterprise resource planning (ERP) system by a large information technology service provider company. The company used the system to manage its global staffing processes. We explored how the users of this system sought to achieve the fluidity needed to do their work. Our findings show that users balance two patterns of routine performance through different technologies with varying degrees of malleability: one to generate fluidity and another to generate stability. We call this process ‘generative balancing’. Our research contributes to the literature on workplace technologies and ERP use by providing insights into how the use of technologies with different degrees of malleability helps to craft digital workspaces and enables users to deal with tensions between accomplishing local-level performance and realizing corporate-level strategic intents.     

The future of digital platforms: Conditions of platform overthrow

Are the digital platforms that we know here to stay? Both empirical insights and theoretical works suggest digital platform stability. Digital platforms such as Airbnb, Netflix and Taobao have experienced tremendous success, and the theoretical works on modularity and multisided markets depict competitive platform landscapes as controlled by a hegemonic platform leader. However, platform history chronicles multiple cases of leadership shifts in platform ecosystems. In this paper, we coin these situations ‘platform overthrows’ and uncover the relevant strategies for both a challenger to conduct a platform overthrow and for a platform leader to resist it. To do so, we conducted an inductive protocol to reinterpret 27 already published cases of platform overthrow attempts. Our results suggest that, during a platform overthrow attempt, both players articulate functional expansion and technical genericity. Accordingly, we formulate propositions that account for the strategies at play during a platform overthrow attempt. We discuss these results regarding the digital platform literature on competition and conclude that the study of platform overthrow can yield useful insights on the future of digital platforms.     

Digital transformation in high-reliability organizations: A longitudinal study of the micro-foundations of failure

High-reliability organizations (HROs) and their complex operating models have been a focus of scholarly work for more than three decades. Recently, HROs have been challenged by new market pressures that require them to digitally transform in ways that affect their identity and value creation models while still maintaining high levels of security and efficiency. This longitudinal, in-depth single-case study of a major European utility company examines the role of HRO identity in digital transformation (DT), specifically in terms of tensions between innovation and transformation on the one hand, and maintaining reliable operations on the other. Our findings show how tensions between HROs’ identity and key features of DT give rise to threat perceptions and self-protective behaviors by the IT workforce, that eventually may derail the transformation process. We develop a process model that highlights the sources and consequences of identity misalignment during major DT initiatives in HROs. In doing so, we extend the research on D T by highlighting the importance of bottom-up processes for DT success and failure, especially concerning the IT function’s perception of organizational identity.     

Big data and business analytics ecosystems: paving the way towards digital transformation and sustainable societies

The digitalization process and its outcomes in the 21st century accelerate transformation and the creation of sustainable societies. Our decisions, actions and even existence in the digital world generate data, which offer tremendous opportunities for revising current business methods and practices, thus there is a critical need for novel theories embracing big data analytics ecosystems. Building upon the rapidly developing research on digital technologies and the strengths that information systems discipline brings in the area, we conceptualize big data and business analytics ecosystems and propose a model that portraits how big data and business analytics ecosystems can pave the way towards digital transformation and sustainable societies, that is the Digital Transformation and Sustainability (DTS) model. This editorial discusses that in order to reach digital transformation and the creation of sustainable societies, first, none of the actors in the society can be seen in isolation, instead we need to improve our understanding of their interactions and interrelations that lead to knowledge, innovation, and value creation. Second, we gain deeper insight on which capabilities need to be developed to harness the potential of big data analytics. Our suggestions in this paper, coupled with the five research contributions included in the special issue, seek to offer a broader foundation for paving the way towards digital transformation and sustainable societies     

Examining relational digital transformation through the unfolding of local practices of the Finnish taxi industry

Digital transformation has become a central construct in information systems (IS) research. Current conceptualizations largely attribute transformation to intentionality, focus on transformation within a single organization, or assign technology the role of a disruptive agent of change. Likewise, “digital” tends to be a general category of technology, rather than a specific technology enacted in a time and place. Inspired by Schatzkian practice theory and its site ontology, we suggest a contextual viewpoint on digital transformation and call it “relational digital transformation.” We analyzed the change dynamics in the context of taxi dispatch practice in Finland, studying the changing taxi dispatch platforms over years. We investigated five powerful industry actors: two incumbents, two entrants, and a federation of taxi entrepreneurs. We identified events of change in the material arrangements in sites and explain the changes through the process dynamics in the focal practice. We define relational digital transformation as a process through which practice-arrangement bundles of digital technologies evolve over time. This approach assumes the default nature of an industry is to be found in the changing relations between entities rather than in entities themselves. This provides a theoretical extension to the prevailing views of digital transformation in IS literature. It enables studying digital transformation in retrospect without attributing change agency to any entities or technologies a priori. We also contribute to practice-theoretical IS literature by demonstrating how the applicability of practice theoretical analysis extends beyond microphenomena to larger industry-level changes.     

Taxonomy of digital community currency platforms*

ABSTRACT

Community currencies are used to pay for products or services within specific groups defined by geographical boundaries or specific common interests. Financial crises, social emergence in developing countries, and increased access to digital devices have stimulated a growing number of communities worldwide to develop digital currency projects. These projects use technologies ranging from traditional plastic cards to mobile phones and blockchain technologies. Following the design science research approach, this paper analyzes digital community currencies (DCCs) by developing a taxonomy based on platform architecture, governance, transactionality and virtuality. By investigating 22 DCC platforms around the world, 4 groups were distinguished: local, proprietary, commons and cyber. The identification of these four different groups of digital community currencies allows us to better discuss the potentials and limitations of each one of them. The presented taxonomy can be useful to researchers and practitioners both to explain and to design DCC platforms. Discussing each of the emerging categories from the proposed taxonomy helps us to provide insights into DCCs, offering a new theoretical frame for investigating the particular case of digital payment platforms.     

Empathic connectivity of exhibition technology and users in the digital Transformation: An integrated method of social network analysis and LDA model

Digital transformation has brought substantial innovation to traditional industries. As a new driving force for enhancing experiential environments, it has led to the symbiotic development of human and technical aspects on a new developmental journey. In the current discussion on digital transformation, scholars mainly focus on the internal logic of digital technology and its innovative role in social and economic development, but exploring the relationship between people and technology is lacking. Therefore, this research focuses on the technological innovation of outstanding exhibition technology in digital transformation. By collecting and analyzing technical feedback and related text materials from the Digital Museum, we build our research on two aspects: On one hand, we analyze the potential empathic empirical connectivity between exhibition technology and users, clarifying the systematic elements of technology, user experience, and sensory interaction involved in digital transformation. On the other hand, we compare the performance of empathy connection path relationships between exhibition technology and users, clarifying the advantages of each element in these paths and providing theoretical guidance for the selection of digital museum construction. As a result, the research constructs the logical framework of exhibition technology between exhibition technology and users, emphasizing the existence of environmental behavior performance and technology under digital transformation. Finally, the current study proposes the law of empathy between people and technology, revealing the crucial role of digital technology in upgrading user experiences and providing inspiration and guidance for the transformation and operation of digital museums.     

Exploiting incumbents' potentialities: From linear value chains to multisided platforms

Two‐sided (or multisided) platforms are significantly transforming the competitive landscape. Companies like Airbnb and Uber entered and challenged traditional industries by adopting business models able to innovatively exploit the opportunities provided by digital technologies. Recent studies have pointed out that the characteristics of multisided platforms might inspire traditional businesses to foster innovation, enabling different kinds of value creation and capture. This paper aims to explore this possibility through a longitudinal case study of an Italian tour operator that moved from a traditional linear value chain model to a multisided platform. Relying on the literature about multisided platforms and the modalities adopted by incumbents in fostering innovation, this research offers contributions to both theory and practice. Firstly, it shows how incumbents can reinterpret their resources and relationships in order to conceive new multisided platforms. Secondly, it investigates how the experience gained by incumbents can unveil technological opportunities. Thirdly, it shows how the incumbents can manage complexity and adopt a systemic perspective in developing multisided platforms. Thus, the contribution to the academic dimension is in enriching the knowledge of how multisided platforms can help incumbents in dealing with their ‘typical curse’.     

Digital enforcement: Rethinking the pursuit of a digitally‐enabled society

In this article, we aim to sensitise the information systems community about the dispossession of choice that the extended reliance on Internet technology creates for individuals. The overemphasis of digital inclusion as a solution to the digital divide problem frames Internet use as desirable in a progressive society but labels non‐use as problematic or a deficiency that needs to be remedied. This situation, we argue, creates a new modality of inequality that we term digital enforcement, defined as the process of dispossession that reduces choices for individuals who prefer to minimise their reliance on the Internet if given the opportunity or those who want to live their lives offline altogether. We present digital enforcement as an ethical problem and draw on the concepts of governmentality and technologies of power to explain how practices around Internet use in society result in digital enforcement. We conclude with a hopeful perspective to call for an ethical agenda to develop desirable futures.     

航空装备维修保障模式数字化转型

针对航空装备维修保障未来发展需求，通过分析维修保障模式转型的外部需求、内在特点和技术支撑条件，提出了转型的必要性和前景，认为航空维修保障模式下一步转型的方向是全面数字化。数字化转型的本质是全行业、全业务数字化，其基础是全要素数字化，关键是全要素互联，核心是现实世界与数字镜像构建的信息物理系统。必须建立系统科学的观点，依托数字技术手段并通过信息网络的互联和智能科学的支撑方能实现。此外，还提出了相应的研究方向和课题。     

Understanding digital transformation in advanced manufacturing and engineering: A bibliometric analysis,topic modeling and research trend discovery

Digital transformation (DT) is the process of combining digital technologies with sound business models to generate great value for enterprises. DT intertwines with customer requirements, domain knowledge, and theoretical and empirical insights for value propagations. Studies of DT are growing rapidly and heterogeneously, covering the aspects of product design, engineering, production, and life-cycle management due to the fast and market-driven industrial development under Industry 4.0. Our work addresses the challenge of understanding DT trends by presenting a machine learning (ML) approach for topic modeling to review and analyze advanced DT technology research and development. A systematic review process is developed based on the comprehensive DT in manufacturing systems and engineering literature (i.e., 99 articles). Six dominant topics are identified, namely smart factory, sustainability and product-service systems, construction digital transformation, public infrastructure-centric digital transformation, techno-centric digital transformation, and business model-centric digital transformation. The study also contributes to adopting and demonstrating the ML-based topic modeling for intelligent and systematic bibliometric analysis, particularly for unveiling advanced engineering research trends through domain literature.