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Digitalisation and Service Innovation: The Intermediating Role of Platforms

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Abstract

The vocabulary used in economic and business analyses of information and communication technology (ICT) developments comprises terms such as business models, ecosystems and platforms. Such terms require clarification and translation to concepts used in general economic and business analyses. The process that interests us in this chapter is the intermediating role of platforms for service innovation. Examples include mobile phone-based platforms that enable innovation in payment processes and related service transactions; hotel booking sites that enable innovation in several related tourist services; and technical platforms for development of services related to ‘smart homes.’ As illustration we use platforms developed to connect vehicles with a variety of actors and resources.

An erratum to this chapter can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53765-2_21

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Notes

  1. 1.

    ‘platform’. Merriam-Webster.com . 2015. http://www.merriam-webster.com (15 September 2015).

  2. 2.

    The quotes in this section are taken from several official presentations made by the ICT company Ericsson under their label ‘The Networked Society’. These presentations are listed and are made available at http://www.slideshare.net/Ericsson/industry-transformation-in-the-networked-society

  3. 3.

    The case is described in more detail in Andersson and Mattsson (2015).

  4. 4.

    According to Alderson (1965), a transvection is ‘a single unit of action of the marketing system. This unit of action is consummated when an end-product is placed in the hands of the ultimate consumer, but the transvection comprises all prior action necessary to produce this final result, going all the way back to conglomerate resources’ (p. 92).

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Andersson, P., Mattsson, LG. (2016). Digitalisation and Service Innovation: The Intermediating Role of Platforms. In: Thilenius, P., Pahlberg, C., Havila, V. (eds) Extending the Business Network Approach. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53765-2_8

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