SECTION A $[40$ MARKS$]$

Read the article below and answer ALL the questions in this section.

Digital platform ecosystems

Abstract

Digital platforms are an omnipresent phenomenon that challenges incumbents by changing how we consume and provide digital products and services. Whereas traditional firms create value within the boundaries of a company or a supply chain, digital platforms utilize an ecosystem of autonomous agents to co$-$create value. Scholars from various disciplines, such as economics, technology management, and information systems have taken different perspectives on digital platform ecosystems. In this Fundamentals article, we first synthesize research on digital platforms and digital platform ecosystems to provide a definition that integrates both concepts. Second, we use this definition to explain how different digital platform ecosystems vary according to three core building blocks: $(1)$ platform ownership, $(2)$ value$-$creating mechanisms, and $(3)$ complementor autonomy. We conclude by giving an outlook on four overarching research areas that connect the building blocks: $(1)$ technical properties and value creation$(2)$ complementor interaction with the ecosystem$(3)$ value capture$$ and $(4)$ the make$-$or$-$join decision in digital platform ecosystems.

Introduction

Regarding its digital platform ecosystems with more than $13,000$ partners, the software company SAP stated, $$reaching our full potential depends on how well we enable our partners, providing them with $[$the$]$ tools they need to accelerate growth and exceed customer expectations in an increasingly complex world.$($SAP Partner Edge $2017).$ Digital platforms as technical infrastructures and their ecosystems of social actors continue to change entire industries. Airbnb lists over $4$ million accommodations, more than the top five hotel brands combined $($Hartmans $2017).$ Uber has a network of $7$ million drivers, overshadowing local taxi companies $($Dogtiev $2017).$ Facebook coordinates $2$ billion active users each month $($Constine $2017),$ vastly outnumbering newspaper subscriptions. All of those digital platforms build on the widespread availability of constantly evolving information technology, such as cloud computing, in$-$memory databases, and analytical solutions for big data. Digital platforms combine and deploy these technologies in new ways to incubate and coordinate an ecosystem of supply and demand $($Hein et al$.2019$a$).$ In the ecosystem, actors on the demand side take the role of complementors by cocreating complementary products or services $($e$.$g$.,$ Lucas and Goh $2009$ Alt et al$.2010).$ Complementors use boundary resources, such as software development kits $($SDK$)$ provided by the platform owner $($Ghazawneh and Henfridsson $2013),$ to co$-$create specialized products or services $($Boudreau $2012).$ Customers are the beneficiaries and remunerate these services through payments or by providing data and feedback. The platform owner can incorporate this feedback to increase the quality of existing services and tap into new markets

QUESTION $1(20$ Marks$)$

Deliberate on the impact of advanced telecommunications and network infrastructure on the operational effectiveness of digital platforms like Uber and Airbnb