Year: 2025
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Digital platforms can dominate through both size (winner-take-all) and differentiation (distinctiveness) by outsourcing parts of platform development to third parties. To enable this mode of development, the digital platform owner provides third-party developers with appropriate software tools and control their work through regulations. These tools and regulations are known as boundary resources. The platform owner must thus orchestrate boundary resources to succeed in the digital platform market. At the same time, third-party developers use these resources to realize the development contributions, however, with their own objectives in mind. Competing entrant platforms, in turn, exploit these resources to advance their own businesses. This suggests novel perspectives on the roles of boundary resources. Understanding these diverse roles grows increasingly important as governance through boundary resources becomes more common, presenting new challenges and opportunities for all network actors. This thesis categorizes the roles of boundary resources in digital platforms through a literature review. The data was gathered semi-systematically and the final corpus consisted of 24 papers. The roles of boundary resources were then identified using a concept matrix. The analysis identified three types of roles for boundary resources: first, tools for cooperation between the platform owner and third-party developers, second, tools for platform competition between an incumbent platform and competing platforms entering the market, and third, dynamic tools that serve multiple actors simultaneously and are shaped by them over time. Furthermore, the results reveal two contrasting views on boundary resources: one where they function as static tools used by actors to achieve specific objectives, and another where they are seen as dynamic, central elements formed by all actors and technological artifacts involved and, in response, shape the objectives and actions of all the actors. The findings highlight the centrality of boundary resources in platform relationships. For managers, the insights suggest that boundary resources present both opportunities and challenges in navigating the dynamics of these relationships. Moreover, the findings indicate that the concept has evolved beyond its original meaning. Consequently, the broader applications of these resources propose promising directions for future research.
Source: Aaltodoc (Aalto University)
Author: Andersson, Ellinor
Language: English
Subfield: Strategy and Management
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: Svenska Forskningsrådet Formas
OpenAlex ID: W7066229101