Philipp Hukal

Journal of the AIS 26(6) p. 1630-1650 Doi: https://aisel.aisnet.org/jais/vol26/iss6/8

This study investigates how organizations layer their product architectures by embedding digital components into physical products. Drawing on a longitudinal case study of PrintCo—a desktop 3D printer firm—we show that layering a product architecture relies on creating adapter layers that facilitate connections among physical and digital components. To generate these adapter layers, PrintCo first parametrized physical components through firmware, making them controllable and addressable. PrintCo then arranged higher-order digital functionality via adapter layers that couple parametrized physical components with additional digital functionality. Based on these findings, we propose a theoretical model that explains how organizations layer product architectures, what the role of adapter layers is, and how the transformation of an organization’s product architecture progresses.

Innovation: Organization and Management Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/14479338.2024.2345319

We investigate the effects of standardisation as a means of direct control on digital platform innovation. Specifically, we study the standardisation of parameters and procedures implemented in the web editing API on the popular geodata platform, OpenStreetMap. Using a regression-based approach to interrupted time series analysis, we assess the quantity and quality of new content generated on the platform before and after the standardisation. We find that the intervention had positive and negative effects on the generation of platform content on OpenStreetMap, which we summarise in three different effects (control, simplification, spill-over). Through the control effect, standardisation decreases the generation of content in quantity by enforcing conformity and reducing complementor’s freedom in producing certain outcomes. Through the simplification effect, standardisation increases the generation of new content in quantity by simplifying and streamlining the production of certain outcomes. Lastly, through the spill-over effect, standardisation increases the generation of content in quality and new areas of the platform by improving the compatibility and interoperability of content. Framing these findings through the rich body of work on standardisation and innovation in the technology management literature, we engage a long-standing tension in research on digital platforms – the balance between control and innovation. We discuss the prospect of standardisation as one way to directly control the balance between desirable and undesirable variation necessary for platforms to innovate, as it restricts some activities while enabling others.

Journal of strategic information systems 33(4) Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsis.2024.101862

In this theoretical review, we engage with empirical contributions to digital innovation scholarship to advance our understanding of physicality. Specifically, we develop a conceptualization of physicality grounded in work on the materiality of technology involving two facets: The focus on physicality – an artifact or an activity – and the criticality of physicality when theorizing digital innovation: as a primary or secondary factor. We use this framing to describe four different roles of physicality in the digital innovation literature – physicality as subject, vessel, context, or nexus of digital innovation. Each role of physicality provides a different perspective that, independently or jointly, serves research into emergent topics along the frontier of digital innovation phenomena. This paper thus contributes by consolidating and advancing the theoretical foundation for researchers wishing to attend to varying aspects of physicality when theorizing digital innovation.

Information Systems Journal Doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/isj.12580

In this study, we examine how the Industrial Internet of Things platform ADAMOS successfully entered the German mechanical engineering market using a consortium-based approach. By establishing a joint venture among industry incumbents, ADAMOS followed consortium governance that separated platform ownership from platform operation. In so doing, ADAMOS navigated the complexities of market entry and overcame many challenges typical to business-to-business (B2B) markets. Drawing from the case, we develop a four-step framework for effective business-to-business platform market entry: (1) Spinning out a neutral legal entity, (2) designing a valuable platform core, (3) seeding the supply side with internal offerings, and (4) opening the platform to broader audiences. Based on this description, we discuss lessons learned and provide actionable recommendations for platform operators considering a consortium-based approach for their business-to-business platform market entry.

Industrial and Corporate Change 33(5) p. 1158-1179 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/icc/dtad075

Many digital platforms offer services that affect real-world socio-economic processes. One example is the impact of short-term rental platforms such as Airbnb or Wimdu on cities and neighborhoods. Because these platforms often operate in a regulatory void characterized by absent, unclear, or poorly enforced laws and regulations, local governments in affected cities have begun experimenting with a variety of instruments to regulate the operations of short-term rental platforms. In this paper, we report how such locally implemented regulatory responses have affected Airbnb’s operations across 13 European cities over the period from 2015 to 2019. Using a difference-in-difference specification with synthetic controls, we assess the impact of different regulatory responses by disaggregating them into motivations, actions, targets, and outcomes. We find that the effectiveness of regulatory responses differs by type of regulation (restricting or clarifying), type of host (professional or private), as well as the enforcement (with or without the cooperation of the platform operator). Through this work, we add to the ongoing debate on the regulation of digital platforms by presenting both empirical evidence as well as an analytical framework.