Towards a maturity model for digital platform ecosystem orchestration

Abstract

An increasing number of companies aspire to incorporate digital platforms in their business models. However, the process of establishing and maintaining a successful digital platform is a challenging and intricate process. For the digital platform to be successful, platform owners need to be able to successfully coordinate and promote the interdependencies and interactions between the actors in the ecosystem. Hence, platform owners need to develop specific capabilities for orchestrating the digital platform ecosystem. To understand what capabilities are required and how these can be developed, this thesis designs a maturity model for digital platform ecosystem orchestration (the MM-DPEO). The maturity model will help platform owners assess their current state of orchestration capabilities and provide a roadmap to improve their maturity level related to their capabilities. The maturity model is iteratively developed, beginning with its conceptualization using pertinent literature and then refining and enhancing it through a Delphi study. Moreover, the model is empirically evaluated for its understandability, ease of use, usefulness, and applicability. Overall, this thesis contributes to the academic understanding of orchestrating digital platform ecosystems and addresses the practical need of platform owners to assess and develop their orchestrating capabilities.