Coordinating Data Control for Value Cocreation in Digital Service Ecosystems

Co-authors Niloofar Kazemargi, Paolo Spagnoletti, Panos Constantinides

Although research on digital service ecosystems has offered interesting insights on the multi-actor nature of value cocreation, we still know very little how heterogeneous actors coordinate data control to cocreate value. Drawing on a case study on the integration of cloud services in the Italian banking sector between 2009 to 2020, we investigate the coordination efforts of ecosystem actors to distribute control over accessing, storing and processing data. We show that, through a set of mutual agreements, actors can coordinate their respective attempts to control data. In doing so, they are able to develop a number of data control complementarities that create value for the ecosystem. Based on our findings, we develop a process model that explains how data control can constrain, enable or enhance value cocreation in a digital service ecosystem. We conclude with a discussion on the implications of our findings and we identify areas for further research.

Openness and Control in Platform Ecosystems: An Empirical Investigation of Online Black Markets

Co-authors Federica Ceci, Paolo Spagnoletti

Digital ecosystems are composed of an interconnected bundle of platforms and complementary technologies that connect buyers and vendors. Such ecosystems comprise multiple actors with different and often contrasting goals threatening platform growth and survival. Appropriate control mechanisms (e.g., gatekeeping and relational control), allow platform owners to create value by influencing the behavior of ecosystem actors. Platform governance must align goals and build trust among the actors. However, trust building may be difficult to achieve in contexts characterized by unknown actors with conflicting goals. In this study, we investigate platform control in the Online Black Market (OBM) ecosystem. OBMs are digital transaction platforms where anonymous buyers and vendors exchange illegal products and services with highly conflicting goals and in the absence of formal rules and regulatory bodies. Building upon the investigation of this extreme case, we conducted a sequential exploratory mixed-method research to identify the governance mechanisms that influence platform survival. Our findings advance the understanding of platform openness and survival of digital transaction platforms.

Language Future-Time Reference to Assess the Propensity Towards Future-Oriented Choices

Co-Authors: Di Pietro F., Souitaris V., Masciarelli F., Prencipe A.

This study proposes the adoption of language future-time reference as a new way of categorizing the propensity toward future-oriented choices at individual- and country-level of analysis. Using a mixed-method approach, combining an original dataset of crowdfunding investment in 53 countries (Study 1) and a randomized experiment on 77 bilingual (English-Chinese) students’ investment behavior (Study 2), we tested the influence of a specific language feature called future-time reference (FTR), on future-oriented investment choices. We found that countries that do not linguistically distinguish the future from the present – use weak-future languages- are more actively engaged in crowdfunding entrepreneurial ventures than countries using languages that clearly distinguish present from future –strong-future language. At the individual level of analysis, the effect of using a weak-future language (vis-à-vis strong-future language) on crowdfunding entrepreneurial ventures holds over and above cultural influences. 

Emotion Regulation in Sensegiving to Sustain Commitment to Action

Co-Authors: Di Pietro F., Vaara E., Prencipe A.

Based on a revealing case study of an organization involved in rescuing refugees, we develop a process model that elucidates how leaders regulate the emotions of others to steer sensemaking in highly demanding controversial contexts. The process starts with proactive sensegiving, which provides a positive emotional basis for an action frame to deal with controversial situations. Through corrective sensegiving, leaders regulate emotional reactions evoked by the actual experience of controversial situations to sustain commitment to action. Through reconstructive sensegiving after the experience of controversial situations leaders offer a fuller appraisal and create the positive understandings needed to maintain commitment to the action. Once the mission comes to an end, individual sensemaking may either reinforce long-term commitment, usually implying willingness to continue with the operations, or lead to deviant interpretations, implying withdrawal. This paper advances our understanding of collective-level emotion regulation in sensemaking by demonstrating the integral role of such emotion regulation in sensegiving that can guide others in demanding situations. By so doing, this paper challenges previous views, which have either put less emphasis on emotion regulation or seen it primarily as an element in the sensemaking of individuals or groups and not as an inherent part of sensegiving.