The DOI matches its Crossref record; 61 of the 62 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Balancing platform control and external contribution in third‐party development: the boundary resources model
Abstract
Prior research documents the significance of using platform boundary resources (e.g. application programming interfaces) for cultivating platform ecosystems through third‐party development. However, there are few, if any, theoretical accounts of this relationship. To this end, this paper proposes a theoretical model that centres on two drivers behind boundary resources design and use – resourcing and securing – and how these drivers interact in third‐party development. We apply the model to a detailed case study of Apple's iPhone platform. Our application of the model not only serves as an illustration of its plausibility but also generates insights about the conflicting goals of third‐party development: the maintenance of platform control and the transfer of design capability to third‐party developers. We generate four specialised constructs for understanding the actions taken by stakeholders in third‐party development: self‐resourcing, regulation‐based securing, diversity resourcing and sovereignty securing. Our research extends and complements existing platform literature and contributes new knowledge about an alternative form of system development.
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“Central among these mechanisms is the deployment of boundary resources, which codify and standardize access to a platform's infrastructural services, both enabling and controlling platform complementors (Ghazawneh & Henfridsson, 2013).”
From From platform governance to institutional practice: Experimentation, misalignment, and contingent adoption of Google Arts & Culture (2025) · cites this paper as Ghazawneh & Henfridsson, 2013
In the citing paper
“One central mechanism that conditions the alignment between platform infrastructures and institutional practices is the provision of boundary resources, which simultaneously enable and control the participation of complementors and users in a platform ecosystem (Ghazawneh & Henfridsson, 2013;Poell et al., 2022).”
From From platform governance to institutional practice: Experimentation, misalignment, and contingent adoption of Google Arts & Culture (2025) · cites this paper as Ghazawneh & Henfridsson, 2013
In the citing paper
“As a prerequisite to reach the second stage of DPE emergence, the focal platform owner has to create boundary resources to enable future complementor integration (Ghazawneh & Henfridsson, 2013).”
From Digital platform ecosystems in flux: From proprietary digital platforms to wide-spanning ecosystems (2023) · cites this paper as Ghazawneh & Henfridsson, 2013
In the citing paper
“Such ways include the use of boundary resources(Ghazawneh and Henfridsson 2013) such as plug-ins (recall the example of Google offering users of Microsoft Word plug-ins to make Word to work directly from Google Drive).”
From Recombination in the open-ended value landscape of digital innovation (2018) · cites this paper as Ghazawneh and Henfridsson 2013
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“To enable third-party development, design capability needs to be shifted to external actors (von Hippel & Katz, 2002; Prügl & Schreier, forthcoming) who are capable to serve end-users through application development.”
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1 of the 62 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.
Research works printed but not linked: 3
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Metadata
- Authors
- Ghazawneh, A., & Henfridsson, O.
- Affiliations
- Jönköping University (SE)
- Chalmers University of Technology (SE)
- Corresponding author
- Ghazawneh, Ahmad
- Henfridsson, Ola
- ORCID
- Henfridsson, Ola
- Venue
- Information Systems Journal
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2012-06-06
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 173-192
- ISSN
- 1350-1917 (ISSN-L)
- 1365-2575
- OpenAlex
- W2143642228
- Cited by
- 854
- References
- 62
- Citations by year
- 2026: 70 · 2025: 83 · 2024: 87 · 2023: 92 · 2022: 99 · 2021: 87 · 2020: 94 · 2019: 59 · 2018: 46 · 2017: 45 · 2016: 25 · 2015: 35 · 2014: 18 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 62.85
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Information Systems Journal (publishedVersion)
- Chalmers Publication Library (Chalmers University of Technology) (submittedVersion)
- IT University Of Copenhagen (IT University of Copenhagen) (submittedVersion)
- Chalmers Research (Chalmers University of Technology) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Digital Platforms and Economics
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Science Applications › Open Source Software Innovations
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Innovation and Knowledge Management
- Keywords
- platform ecosystems, boundary resources, platform control, application programming interfaces, resourcing, platform governance
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