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Platform‐driven innovation: Unveiling research and business opportunities
Author(s) -
Trabucchi Daniel,
Buganza Tommaso,
Muzellec Laurent,
Ronteau Sébastien
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
creativity and innovation management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.148
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 1467-8691
pISSN - 0963-1690
DOI - 10.1111/caim.12428
Subject(s) - relevance (law) , intersection (aeronautics) , open innovation , business model , business , knowledge management , marketing , computer science , political science , engineering , aerospace engineering , law
An increasing number of businesses have adopted a platform business model. Platform companies such as Airbnb, Amazon, Facebook, Google, Salesforce and Uber are amongst the world's most valuable companies and have revolutionized their respective industries. But what are platforms? Is there a unique definition? How do they innovate, and what is their place in the innovation literature? This editorial article considers those questions. First, it provides an overview of platform definitions, their evolution, and increasing relevance in today's economy. Then, it presents and contextualizes the six papers of this special section that lie at the intersection of platforms and innovation literature streams. In doing so, a framework contextualizing the emerging concept of ‘Platform‐Driven Innovation’ is proposed. It shows how platforms may have very different roles in the innovation processes acting as Simplifiers, Catalyst or Enablers. Finally, this paper contains some suggestions on how future research may explore the intersection between innovation and platforms.