Resumo

Understanding the interaction among the different types of ecosystems and platforms can boost a firm's core business, expand its products and services portfolio, and create new business models. Most ecosystems are built around one or more platforms, increased leverage by digital technologies to facilitate interactions among the different actors (Gawer, 2021). Thus, ecosystems associated with “platformization” create new opportunities by shifting traditional competition to platform competition, from single firms to a network of actors in coopetion dynamics (Cozzolino & Rothaermel, 2018)

However, some misunderstandings and overlapping concepts exist on ecosystems and platforms due to the different research fields, such as economics, engineering, service, innovation, and information system. Sometimes they are interchangeable in the literature and related to other types of structures, such as supply chains, alliances, and networks (Cozzolino et al., 2021; Gomes et al., 2021; Jacobides et al., 2018). Therefore, this study aims to explore the concepts and types of ecosystems and platforms to understand their relationships.

Ecosystem concept derived from natural sciences, represents a dynamic and interconnected network of actors reliant on each other for survival (Jacobides et al., 2021). Platforms serve as infrastructure, enabling value creation and capture among actors of ecosystems (Gawer, 2021), leveraged by digital technologies, facilitating new business models, coordinating actors, reducing transaction costs, and expanding geographic scope. Companies can engage in competition and collaboration across multiple ecosystems and platforms (Cozzolino et al., 2021)

We identified six types of ecosystems (business, service, innovation, entrepreneurship, platform, and knowledge ecosystems) and their association with different types of platforms. The interactions and overlaps between them, vary across firms and sectors, influenced by various factors such as the different roles of autonomous, heterogeneous, and interdependent actors in these relationships. Understanding the characteristics, boundaries, and potential interactions between actors in ecosystems and platforms can drive strategies, actions, and collaborative and competitive capabilities within them

This study explored the concepts and types of ecosystems and platforms, comparing six types of ecosystems (business, service, innovation, entrepreneurship, platform, and knowledge ecosystems) and eight platform types (organizational, product, technology, network, digital, service, innovation, and platform ecosystems). The findings demonstrate the interactions and relationships between ecosystem and platform types. However, there is limited analysis of interaction and collaboration within ecosystems, particularly in the knowledge ecosystem where no specific platform or structure is established.

Cozzolino, A., Corbo, L., & Aversa, P. (2021). Digital platform-based ecosystems: The evolution of collaboration and competition between incumbent producers and entrant platforms. Journal of Business Research Gawer, A. (2021). Digital platforms and ecosystems: remarks on the dominant organizational forms of the digital age. Innovation: Organization and Management. Jacobides, M. G., Cennamo, C., & Gawer, A. (2018). Towards a theory of ecosystems. Strategic Management Journal