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While the theory and practice of open innovation networks are flourishing, green innovation in manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is stagnant. This study explores the mechanism driving green innovation in manufacturing SMEs under open innovation networks based on the role of innovation platforms' relational governance.

A quantitative study was conducted using questionnaires to collect data from 270 manufacturing SMEs in Zhejiang Province and employing a structural equation model to test the developed hypotheses.

The results revealed that innovation platforms' relational governance positively affects green innovation in manufacturing SMEs. Furthermore, the collaborative innovation atmosphere and risk perception mediate this relationship through a respective mediating role and a chain-mediating role.

This study is the first to empirically investigate the mechanism of the influence of innovation platforms' relational governance on green innovation in manufacturing SMEs, provide a new perspective for understanding the antecedents of green innovation under open innovation networks, and expand the theoretical research on open innovation management.

The emerging nonstandard employment (i.e. gig work) makes gig workers face a series of forms of labor insecurity. Prior studies focus on the linkage between gig work insecurity and precariousness. However, how gig workers and platforms jointly handle gig work insecurity has been so far overlooked. To this end, this study aims to explore how gig platforms and workers jointly cope with the insecurity of the gig work model.

Building upon the JD-R model, this study used a double-level perspective to hypothesize how gig platforms and workers jointly cope with gig work insecurity. Second, 248 questionnaire data were collected from workers who worked for several gig platforms (e.g. Meituan, Eleme, DidiTax, Zhihu and Credamo) in China. Third, the analysis method based on the partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM) was employed to test the study theoretical model.

Empirical findings show that gig workers can cope with gig work insecurity by crafting their work; gig platforms' formalization governance not only reduces gig work insecurity but also helps gig workers address it by more easily crafting their work.

Gig workers do always have not enough job resources and motivation to work hard. Gig workers merely rely on job crafting to cope with the insecurity of the gig work model, which is insufficient. Gig platforms should also formalize their current governance mechanisms, which can supplement gig workers' job resources and reduce their job demands so as to help them cope with such gig work insecurity.

These results advance the understanding of the joint roles of gig platforms and workers in addressing gig work insecurity and improve governance effectiveness and value of gig platforms.

In parallel with the rising importance of innovation and digital technologies, research on platform ecosystems is rapidly accumulating. This study aims to summarize the current research published in leading technical and innovation management (TIM) journals and provide recommendation for future research.

In this paper, the authors combine multiple quantitative literature review methods (social network analysis, citation analysis and co-citation analysis) with a systematic literature review of articles published in the 13 most influential TIM journals over a 15-year period.

The citation network of 168 selected papers is sparse, with low network density indicating the emerging nature of the field. Using network centrality values, the authors identified the 33 most influential articles. The review of methodologies in these articles found that conceptual and case study research dominate, suggesting the need for additional confirmatory and quantitative analysis. Co-citation analysis of the references identified six research clusters: foundation, network-centric innovation, complementor management, platform competition, ecosystemsand product platforms.

This analysis is among the first to examine the knowledge structure of platform ecosystem research in the TIM domain by using multiple evidence-based analysis methods. The authors also apply the theory, context, characteristics and methodology framework to suggest areas for future research.

Although digital platforms have become important to organizations and society, little is known about how platforms evolve over time. This is particularly true for early-stage platforms provided by entrepreneurial firms competing in nascent markets. This study aims to investigate the relationship between a platform provider's mission and the evolution of its digital platform.

This study conducted an exploratory, multi-case study of startups in the emerging health/fitness wearables market over the period 2007 to 2016.

This study emerged two organizational mission constructs – consistency and specificity – and two evolutionary dynamics of digital platforms – unity and evolution rate. It also considered unity and evolution rate in terms of features created by the platform provider and features connected by external parties. This study found relationships between aspects of mission consistency and platform unity and identified relationships between aspects of mission specificity and platform evolution rates.

This study formalized findings into a set of theoretical propositions, thereby enriching the understanding of the relationship between organizational mission and digital platform evolution in nascent markets. This study provides new constructs and relationships that can be tested and refined in future research.

Considering rapid digitalization development, this study examines the impacts of digital technology innovation on social responsibility in platform enterprises.

The study applies the event study method and cross-sectional regression analysis, taking 168 digital technology innovations for social responsibility issued by 88 listed platform enterprises from 2011 to 2022 to study the impact of digital technology innovations for social responsibility announcements of different announcement content and platform attributes on the stock market value of platform enterprises.

The results show that, first, the positive stock market reaction is produced on the same day as the digital technology innovation announcement. Second, the announcement of the platform’s public social responsibility and the announcement of co-innovation and radical innovation bring more positive stock market reactions. In addition, the announcements mentioned above issued by trading platforms bring more positive stock market reactions. Finally, the social responsibility attribution characteristics of the announcement did not have a significant differentiated impact on the stock market reaction.

Most scholars have studied digital technology innovation for social responsibility through modeling rather than second-hand data to empirically examine. This study uses second-hand data with the instrumental stakeholder theory to provide a new research perspective on platform social responsibility. In addition, in order to explore the different impacts of digital technology innovation on social responsibility, this study has classified digital technology innovation for social responsibility according to its social responsibility and digital technology innovation characteristics.

In this study, the deployment of an integrated Quality Function Deployment (QFD) decision framework is presented to help cities design targeted strategies to become “smart”. Arguably smart cities leverage advanced technologies to enhance their smartness to improve everyday urban life. To this end, a QFD – Analytic Hierarchy Process – Analytic Network Process (QFD-AHP-ANP) framework is proposed to deliver guidance for selecting the appropriate mix of smart technologies based on the specific smart needs of each city.

The AHP and ANP methods are incorporated into QFD to enhance its methodological robustness in formulating the decision problem. AHP accurately captures and translates the “Voice of the Experts” into prioritized “Smart City” dimensions, while establishing inter-relationships between these dimensions and “Smart City Technologies”. Meanwhile, ANP explores tradeoffs among the technologies, enabling well-informed decisions. The framework’s effectiveness is evaluated through an illustrative application in the city of Thessaloniki.

Applying the framework to this real-world context confirms its practicality and utility, demonstrating its ability to particularize local, social, political, environmental and economic trends through the resulting mix of technologies in smart urban development strategies.

The importance of this study lies in several aspects. Firstly, it introduces a novel QFD decision framework tailored for smart city strategic planning. Secondly, it contributes to the operationalization of the smart city concept by providing guidance for cities to effectively adopt smart technologies. Finally, this study represents a new field of application for QFD, expanding its scope beyond its traditional domains.

Using perspectives from the technology affordance and social capital theories, this study aims to unpack the process through which platform-enabled co-development unfolds in supply chain contexts. Specifically, it explores how innovation outcomes can be fostered through platform affordances and supply chain relationship (SCR) capital.

The paper integrates literature on digital platforms, SCRs and co-development to produce an integrative framework, developing propositions on the relationships among digital platforms, SCR capital and innovation outcomes.

The authors identify affordances for distinctive strategic use of platforms: value co-creation, relationship building and strategic learning. The authors discuss ways in which each affordance contributes to the advances in SCR capital, thus altogether enabling focal firms to orchestrate and integrate internal and external resources to attain incremental and radical innovation.

Based on the proposed research framework, further empirical studies can use quantitative data to measure the relationship between affordances and SCR capital and use longitudinal case studies to explore how affordances and SCR capital evolve to provide more fine-grained and contextualised information in different research settings.

This paper sheds light on how the relation between the adoption of digital platforms and SCR capital shapes digitally enabled service co-development. The authors provide an alternative explanation of resource integration in platform-mediated supply chain contexts and enrich the related literature on how digital platforms can maximise value from introducing ambidextrous innovation by leveraging internal and external resources.

The purpose of the article is to explore the perceptions of Brazilian game developers about the power relations between them and the sponsors of digital game platforms. It also aims to identify forms of collective action that developers can use to counteract the asymmetry of power.

The research employed an abductive approach, seeking empirical evidence that would challenge consolidated theory. To achieve this, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 25 Brazilian developers. The data were analyzed qualitatively using NVivo software. The aim was to resolve theoretical ambiguities identified in the literature review and to explore unexpected findings.

The study explores Brazilian game developers' perceptions through interviews, revealing their experiences within the industry’s concentrated structure and their use of collective action to navigate power dynamics.

The study's focus on Brazil limits the generalizability of its findings to the broader game development industry.

The study suggests Brazilian game devs can leverage collective action to counteract power imbalance with platforms, collaborate through events and projects and facilitate internationalization of their games.

The study suggests collective action could empower developers to challenge platform dominance and foster a stronger community among Brazilian game developers.

The article’s value lies in examining Brazilian devs' experiences within their specific industry context and highlighting collective action as a potential strategy for developers.

With the development of digitalization and interconnection, there is a growing need for enterprise customers to ensure the compatibility of the third-party components they are using in the manufacturing process, thus raising the integration requirements for the Industrial Internet platform and its third-party developers. Therefore, our study investigates the optimal integration decision of the Industrial Internet platform while considering its access price, the integration cost, and the net utility derived by enterprise customers from the third-party components.

We model a two-sided Industrial Internet platform that connects customers on the demand side to the developers on the supply side. We then explore the integration decision of the Industrial Internet platform and its important factors by solving the optimal profit function.

First, despite the high integration cost of third-party developers, the platform still chooses to integrate when enterprise customers derive high utility from the third-party components. Second, due to the compatibility effect, charging the enterprise customers a higher price may reduce the platform profits when these customers derive low utility from the third-party components. Third, the platform profits will increase along with the integration cost of third-party developers when it is low in the case where enterprise customers derive low utility from third-party components.

Our findings offer insightful takeaways for the Industrial Internet platform when making integration decisions.

The purpose of this study is to explore the coopetition relationships between platform owners and complementors in complementary product markets. Drawing on the coopetition theory, the authors examined the evolutionary trends of the coopetition relationships between platform owners and complementors and explore the main influence factors.

The authors used Lotka–Volterra model to analyze the coopetition relationship between platform owners and complementors, including the evolutionary trends as well as the results. Considering the feasibility of sample data collection, simulation is used to verify the effects of different factors on the evolution of coopetition relationships.

The results show that there are four possible results of the competition in the complementary products market. That comprises “winner-take-all for platform owners,” “winner-take-all for complementors,” “stable competitive coexistence” and “unstable competitive coexistence,” where “stable competitive coexistence” is the optimal evolutionary state. Moreover, the results of competitive evolution are determined by innovation subjects’ interaction parameters. However, the natural growth rate, the initial market benefits of the two innovators and the overall benefits of the complementary product markets influence the time to reach a steady state.

The study provides new insights into the entry of platform owners into complementary markets, and the findings highlight the fact that in complementary product markets, platform owners and complementors should seek “competitive coexistence” rather than “winner-takes-all.” Moreover, the authors also enrich the coopetition theory by revealing the core factors that influence the evolution of coopetition relationships, which further enhance the analysis of the evolutionary process of coopetition relationships.