From Phenotypes to Environment-Centered Platform Design Patterns

The field of business-to-business (B2B) platforms has recently attracted increasing scholarly attention, but a comprehensive understanding remains elusive, particularly regarding categorization. This study addresses this gap by developing a taxonomy of digital B2B platforms, considering the different market environments in which they operate. The taxonomy enhances the understanding of B2B platform configurations and offers strategic insights for firms adapting to or developing B2B platforms. This research contributes to both theoretical and practical discussions on categorizing digital platforms and strategy development in the digital economy. Our approach is based on Nickerson et al's (2013) iterative taxonomy development method. First, we conduct a systematic literature review (n=65 articles) to define initial meta-characteristics and dimensions. Second, we refine these dimensions through expert interviews (n=16) and case study analysis (n=15), culminating in a taxonomy of 19 dimensions and 73 characteristics covering business model, governance, strategy, and environment. Third, the framework was applied in a hierarchical cluster analysis of 60 real-world B2B platforms across industries to identify five archetypal B2B platform models.