The seminar will take place on Tuesday, March 10th, from 11:30 to 12:30 (HG-08A37).
This is a lunch seminar; please register your attendance by accepting/declining your emailed invitation by Friday, March 6th, at 10 AM at the latest (for catering).
Abstract
Prior research emphasizes platform governance for continuity such as ensuring backward compatibility, engaging in frequent, incremental updates that leverage demand-side economies of scale and learning, and exerting competitive pressure on complementors. Such governance strategies aim to preserve the status quo, but they do not explain how a platform sponsor can respond when they have lost control over strategic bottlenecks, when the balance of governance has collapsed into value capture by partners. We develop a theoretical process model that explains how a platform sponsor reclaims control over strategic bottlenecks. By rendering the old platform ecosystem technologically incompatible and obsolete (a separating strategy), stopping licensing and technical support to ban further growth (a blocking strategy) and absorbing critical compliance layers (an enveloping strategy), the platform sponsor structurally dissolves competition. We contribute to research on platform governance by identifying a distinct, radical mode of governance used not to balance tensions among ecosystem actors, but to resolve them through systemic restructuring. We conclude with implications for further research.
ABRI Lunch Seminar Panos Constantinides 10 March 2026 11:30 - 12:30
About ABRI Lunch Seminar Panos Constantinides
Starting date
- 10 March 2026
Time
- 11:30 - 12:30
Location
- VU Main Building
Address
- De Boelelaan 1105
- 1081 HV Amsterdam
Organised by
- ABRI and the KIN Center for Digital Innovation
Language
- English
Biography
Panos Constantinides is Professor of Digital Innovation at Alliance Manchester Business School and one of the co-founders of the European Digital Platforms Research Network (EU-DPRN). His research is divided into two broad topics: human-AI collaboration; the strategy and governance of digital platform ecosystems. His research has been published in FT50 journals such as Information Systems Research, MIS Quarterly, the Journal of Business Venturing and Organisation Studies, among others. Panos is the author of the book Digital Transformation in Healthcare: An Ecosystem Approach that has received endorsements from business school academics, chief executives in healthcare and technology consulting.