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The Evolution of Causal Mechanisms that Drive the Diffusion of Platforms: Investigating Corrective Mechanisms

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Re-imagining Diffusion and Adoption of Information Technology and Systems: A Continuing Conversation (TDIT 2020)

Abstract

This study investigates the evolving nature of causal mechanisms driving the evolution of a digital platform. By drawing from a rich dataset representing the evolution of a thriving FINTECH platform (i.e. HP-EFS) over a period of 7 years, we propose to a) identify the causal mechanisms responsible for its evolution, and b) further understand the dynamic nature of these causal mechanisms. We integrate the existing literature on Generative Mechanisms with the theoretical streams of Socio-technical systems and Systems theory to address the research question. The contribution of this paper is to propose and elucidate a class of causal mechanisms, ‘Corrective Mechanisms’ for future IS research. We anchor this approach amongst existing IS ‘Generative Mechanisms’ research and argue it’s utility in complementing existing research when explaining digital platform evolution.

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Acknowledgement

This work was supported, in part, by Science Foundation Ireland grant 13/RC/2094, and from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 754489.

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Correspondence to Shane McLoughlin .

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Puvvala, A., McLoughlin, S., McLafferty, B., Yehorova, Y., Donnellan, B. (2020). The Evolution of Causal Mechanisms that Drive the Diffusion of Platforms: Investigating Corrective Mechanisms. In: Sharma, S.K., Dwivedi, Y.K., Metri, B., Rana, N.P. (eds) Re-imagining Diffusion and Adoption of Information Technology and Systems: A Continuing Conversation. TDIT 2020. IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology, vol 617. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64849-7_51

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64849-7_51

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