AMCIS CfP – 4 Minitracks in the Track Digital Sourcing, Platforms and Ecosystems (SIG DSPE)

[Schreieck, Maximilian]

Dear Colleagues,

With the AMCIS deadline approaching (February 28, 2025), we would like to point you to the four minitracks of the Track Digital Sourcing, Platforms, and Ecosystems and their excellent minitrack teams - see below for details. 

If you are working on digital platforms, digital sourcing, or related topics, there will surely be a fit for one of the minitracks!

Best wishes,
Maximilian Schreieck, Julia Kotlarsky, Andreas Hein
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1) CROWDSOURCING THROUGH DIGITAL PLATFORMS

Crowdsourcing through digital platforms allows large groups to contribute to an overarching goal, typically via virtual communities. Today, anyone globally with basic knowledge or resources has opportunities afforded by digital platforms linking buyers and sponsors with a crowd or community. Inspired by the theme “Intelligent technologies for a better future,” this mini-track explores the high-impact potential of crowdsourcing, the gig-economy, sharing-economy, and platform-economy for economic and social benefit. Increasing digitization has given rise to new sourcing models leveraging digital platforms to engage the “crowd.” IS researchers have responded by investigating new business models reliant on crowd involvement and mediated by digital platforms – e.g., gig economy models (Wiener et al 2021). This focus on crowdsourcing and digital platforms, “crowdwork platforms” and “microsourcing platforms,” is closely related to the larger IS sourcing phenomenon.

Timothy Olsen, Gonzaga University, olsent at gonzaga.edu
Joseph Taylor, California State University, Sacramento, joseph.taylor at csus.edu

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2) DIGITAL SOURCING

As digital technologies are increasingly developed, maintained, and evolved collaboratively across multiple organizations, the management of sourcing relationships must expand beyond traditional arrangements to include more complex multilateral structures. Moreover, cloud technologies, low-code platforms, and citizen development empower employees to source and co-develop digital solutions, challenging existing approaches to governance, control, and IS development. The rise of artificial intelligence is seen as a paradigm shift, requiring both practitioners and researchers to address the specific challenges of governing systems that act autonomously, learn from data, and whose inner workings are often inscrutable, even to experts. This minitrack welcomes submissions that enhance our understanding of the above and related topics.

Kai Spohrer, Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, k.spohrer at fs.de
Thomas Huber, ESSEC, huber at essec.edu
Ning Su, Ivey Business School, Western University, nsu at ivey.ca

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3) PLATFORM THINKING AS LENSES TO READ INNOVATION: FROM ESTABLISHED FIRMS TO NEW TRENDS LIKE GENAI

Platforms are all around us, shaping how we communicate, consume, and innovate. While commonly associated with startups and tech giants like Uber or Airbnb, platforms are not merely business models. They represent lenses through which we can interpret broader innovation dynamics across industries. Platform Thinking is the ability to utilize platform-based mechanisms to drive digital business transformation. It shifts the focus from linear value chains to more complex, multi-sided interactions that enable value creation and exchange between different actors. This approach is not limited to startups; established firms such as banks, manufacturers, and retailers can apply Platform Thinking to unlock hidden assets and foster collaboration. For example, companies like John Deere or Siemens have evolved their business models through platforms to incorporate digital services.
Furthermore, emerging technologies like Generative AI, blockchain, and the metaverse offer fertile ground for applying Platform Thinking.

Daniel Trabucchi, Politecnico di Milano, daniel.trabucchi at polimi.it
Tommaso Buganza, Politecnico di Milano, tommaso.buganza at polimi.it

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4) TRANSITIONS FROM PRODUCT-CENTRIC TO PLATFORM-CENTRIC ORGANIZATIONS, BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS PLATFORM ECOSYSTEMS

In the last two decades, digital platforms have disrupted many industries. This development has influenced various transformation processes in traditional companies. While some incumbents enhance their products with platform-based services, others establish their own platforms, transforming established supply chains into dynamic platform ecosystems. This mini-track aims to attract submissions that explore the complexities and issues of transforming industrial incumbents into platform-centric organizations. Relevant issues and topics include (but are not limited to): 1) strategic decisions between „build-your-own-platform” and co-opetition through shared digital platforms; 2) challenges for incumbents to differentiate and compete with platform natives and approaches to overcome them; 3) platform governance trade-offs such as openness and control in the business-to-business platform ecosystem; 4) addressing current and future regulatory requirements (e.g., Data Governance Act, Supply Chain Act, Ecodesign for Sustainable Product Regulation) with the help of centralized and decentralized digital platforms. We are open to conceptual, empirical, and design-oriented approaches.

Dimitri Petrik, University of Stuttgart, dimitri.petrik at gsame.uni-stuttgart.de
Marc Brechtel, University of Potsdam, marc.brechtel at ime.uni-potsdam.de
Daniel Heinz, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, daniel.heinz at kit.edu