Research-Technology Management

Platforms as a Catalyst for Innovation

Research-Technology Management (RTM) welcomes research articles that explore how platforms act as driving forces for innovation.

This special issue aims to advance understanding of how platform-based strategies can reshape businesses, influence markets, and inspire sustainable innovation pathways in a platform-centric world.

Platforms have redefined industries by orchestrating ecosystems with multiple customer groups and leveraging cross-side network effects to create value dynamically. Transactional platforms like Uber in mobility and Airbnb in hospitality—where users and providers meet in a shared marketplace—or orthogonal platforms such as Google and Facebook, are examples that demonstrate how cross-side interactions drive value in unique ways. Google’s search platform, for instance, connects two customer groups: users seeking information and advertisers targeting those users. As more users adopt Google’s search engine, it becomes increasingly valuable to advertisers, whose spending, in turn, supports the free service Google offers users. Facebook follows a similar orthogonal model, gathering large user bases who generate data, which becomes valuable to advertisers aiming to reach targeted audiences.

Platforms have transitioned from being innovative business models to now acting as innovation engines across an array of contexts. As innovation engines, platforms transform traditional industries, enable innovation within established firms, and form the backbone of emerging technologies.

1. Platforms Reshaping Traditional Industries
   Platforms like Uber, Airbnb, Grab, and Bolt have demonstrated how platform business models can disrupt established sectors like transportation and hospitality. By creating ecosystems that connect demand and supply directly, these platforms facilitate interactions that traditional business models couldn’t support. This shift allows for flexibility, scalability, and customer-centric experiences, offering lessons for firms in various industries looking to embrace platform thinking.
2. Platforms Driving Innovation in Established Firms
   Established firms also are increasingly integrating platform models into their innovation strategies to stay competitive. For example, Telepass, originally designed as a toll payment system, has transformed into a comprehensive mobility platform in Italy, connecting drivers with services like parking, fuel, and insurance. Similarly, John Deere has built an agricultural platform that allows farmers to integrate data from their equipment, enhancing efficiency and enabling precision farming. By embedding platform models into their core operations, these firms leverage new data flows and services, creating value for both the company and its users.
3. Platforms as Foundations of Emerging Technologies
   Platforms are foundational to emerging technologies, particularly in decentralized and data-driven spaces. Ethereum, a blockchain platform, empowers developers to build decentralized applications (dApps), facilitating innovations in finance, media, and supply chain without a central authority. Another example is MyGPTS, a generative AI platform that enables developers and companies to integrate advanced AI capabilities, from language generation to data analysis, into their solutions. Both Ethereum and MyGPTS underscore how platform structures support continuous innovation and adaptability, laying the groundwork for a new generation of digital ecosystems.

This special issue seeks submissions that examine the intricate relationship between platforms and innovation management to support scholars and practitioners in fostering innovation through platforms. We invite contributions on the following topics:

• Exemplar cases of established firms that have adopted platform thinking, including their key learnings and examination of the benefits and risks involved.
• Platform-based technologies and their role in fostering innovation within new and established companies.
• How subject matter experts are leveraging platform models to drive innovation and achieve competitive advantages.
• Tools and frameworks that support organizations in cultivating innovation through platforms.
• How innovation leaders guide transformative projects based on platforms models.
• Other perspectives exploring the practical nexus between platforms and innovation.

Key References:

Budde, L., R. Haenggi, L. Laglia, and T. Friedli. 2024. “Leading the Transition to Multi-Sided Platforms (MSPs) in a B2B Context–The Case of a Recycling SME.” Industrial Marketing Management 116: 106–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2023.12.002

Franzò, S., and A. Urbinati. 2023. “Managing Resource Loops in Circular Supply Chains: A Taxonomy of Multi-Sided Platforms in the B2B Setting.”Industrial Marketing Management 115: 185–97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2023.09.016

Gawer, A., and M. A. Cusumano. 2014. “Industry Platforms and Ecosystem Innovation.” Journal of Product Innovation Management 31(3): 417–33. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpim.12105

Heikinheimo, M., P. Hautamäki, S. Julkunen, and J. Koponen. 2024. “B2B Service Sales on a Digital Multi-Sided Platform: Transformation from Value Chains to Value Networks.” Industrial Marketing Management 116: 26–39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2023.11.006

Hein, A., M. Schreieck, T. Riasanow, D. et al. 2020. “Digital platform ecosystems.” Electronic Markets 30: 87–98. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12525-019-00377-4

Jacobides, M. G., C. Cennamo, and A. Gawer. 2018. “Towards a Theory of Ecosystems.” Strategic Management Journal 39(8): 2255–76. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.2904

Mancuso, I., A. M. Petruzzelli, and U. Panniello. 2024. “Value Creation in Data-Centric B2B Platforms: A Model Based on Multiple Case Studies.” Industrial Marketing Management 119: 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2024.04.001

Meier, P., N. Friederici, T. Krell-Sun, and Daniel Trabucchi. 2024. “Strategies for Designing and Growing Business-to-Business Platforms.” Research-Technology Management 67(2): 44–56. https://doi.org/10.1080/08956308.2023.2299633

Muzellec, L., S. Ronteau, and M. Lambkin. 2015. “Two-Sided Internet Platforms: A Business Model Lifecycle Perspective.” Industrial Marketing Management 45: 139–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2015.02.012

Parker, G. G., and M. W. Van Alstyne. 2005. “Two-Sided Network Effects: A Theory of Information Product Design.” Management Science 51(10): 1494–1504. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.1050.0400

Pereira, J., M. M. Tavalaei, and H. Ozalp. 2019. “Blockchain-Based Platforms: Decentralized Infrastructures and Its Boundary Conditions.”Technological Forecasting and Social Change 146: 94–102. DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2019.04.030

Ritala, P. 2024. 2024. “Grand Challenges and Platform Ecosystems: Scaling Solutions for Wicked Ecological and Societal Problems.” Journal of Product Innovation Management 41 (2): 168–83. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpim.12682

Rochet, J., and J. Tirole. 2006. “Two-Sided Markets: A Progress Report.” RAND Journal of Economics 37(3): 645–67. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1756-2171.2006.tb00036.x

Trabucchi, D., and T. Buganza. 2023. Platform Thinking: Read the Past. Write the Future. New York: Business Expert Press.

Trabucchi, D., T. Buganza, and E. Pellizzoni. 2017. “Give Away Your Digital Services: Leveraging Big Data to Capture Value.” Research-Technology Management 60(2): 43–52. https://doi.org/10.1080/08956308.2017.1276390

Trabucchi, D., A. Moretto, T. Buganza, and A. MacCormack. 2020. “Disrupting the Disruptors or Enhancing Them? How Blockchain Reshapes Two‐Sided Platforms.” Journal of Product Innovation Management 37(6): 552–74. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpim.12557

Trabucchi, D., L. Muzellec, and S. Ronteau. 2019. “Sharing Economy: Seeing through the Fog.” Internet Research 29(5): 996–1013. Doi : 10.1108/INTR-03-2018-0113