Value capture and embeddedness in social-purpose-driven ecosystems: A multiple-case study of European digital healthcare platforms

Abstract

We aim to answer the question of the effect of a social-purpose-driven ecosystem on value capture from digital health platforms. We call the social-purpose-driven ecosystem a phenomenon which seeks social impact before profits and aims to empower citizens for individual and collective well-being. Thus, capturing value from digital platforms embedded in a social-purpose-driven ecosystem fundamentally differs from profiting from purely commercial digital platforms and poses significant challenges to platform owners and public policy. Previous research has focused mainly on profiting from technological innovations but has yet to consider the contextual role of the social-purpose-driven ecosystem. We applied the Profiting from Innovation (PFI) framework to fill this gap. Furthermore, based on the results of the multiple-case study of five European digital healthcare platforms, we extend the PFI framework. As a result, we define four unique contingencies which enable value capture from digital healthcare platforms embedded in a social-purpose-driven ecosystem: 1) multilayer value creation, (2) multipurpose complementary assets, (3) emerging dominant design, and (4) distributed socio-economic returns mechanisms. The study offers two managerial and policy contributions. First, it calls on platform owners and policymakers to acknowledge the contextual effect of a social-purpose-driven ecosystem. Second, multilayer value creation, multiple complementary assets, dominant design and distributed socio-economic returns mechanisms can positively affect capturing value from digital healthcare platforms.