Entering the black box of platform orchestration : a metaphoric co-evolutionary framework for platform-based ecosystems

Since the first empirical definition of business ecosystems (BEs), its central orchestration dynamic has been defined as co-evolutive. If the nature of the associated mechanisms is still debated, the co-evolutionary nature of inter-organizational innovation processes has been largely demonstrated. Platform-based ecosystems are characterized by a flexible and scalable architecture of cooperation designed to leverage collective intelligence. In such a context, platforms serve as a backbone for inter-organizational collaboration and facilitate interactions. But for a platform-based ecosystem to flourish inter-organizational coevolutionary processes have to be triggered. To better understand how platform-based ecosystems achieve such goal, an empirical and theoretical characterization of the associated co-evolutionary processes is of utmost importance. However, current analogical transpositions of co-evolutionary mechanisms from biology to strategic management are still disparate and partial. To leverage our understanding of co-evolutionary mechanisms involved in biological complex adaptive systems, the application of a metaphorical transposition is necessary. The metaphorical transposition of coevolutionary mechanisms in organizational sciences enables the distinction between several mechanisms: mimicry, co-adaptation, and 3 different forms of co-evolutive mutualisms. This distinction allows a better understanding of platforms coordination processes, thus opening the way for the empirical identification of specific generative mechanisms and their related triggering factors.