Architectural Leverage: Putting Platforms in Context

The use of the term platform has proliferated in management research. However, theoretical work on the concept has lagged behind. We present a systematic review of the platform literature, identifying four distinct streams: organizational platforms, product family platforms, market intermediary platforms, and platform ecosystems. Each of these streams is characterized by a distinctive, although usually implied, theoretical logic. We elaborate on the theoretical logics of leverage and architectural openness, both of which underpin all four streams of platform research. We further discuss three distinctive leverage rationales exhibited in different platform variants—production, innovation, and transaction—and illustrate how platform ecosystems combine aspects of all three. We explain the meta-logic of architectural leverage to facilitate the purposive manipulation of platforms, providing a link between platform design features and sources of leverage. This provides a model that allows the different platform types to be placed into context with others. Finally, we outline how the concept of architectural leverage can be used to understand platform evolution.