Strategy framework for technology platforms within the context of diversified companies

The significance of technology platforms as interconnected networks of technological knowledge is steadily growing in diversified companies. The reason is that technology platforms support diversified companies to handle the conflicting priorities of fulfilling the customer demand for individualized innovations, while generating company-wide technological synergies. Hence, the success of diversified companies can be significantly affected by technology platforms and a consistent framework that enables the description of technology platform strategies. In practice however, a low degree of systematization regarding the description of technology platforms and their strategies is noticeable, leading to unsustainable platform concepts. The reason is that there is no established opinion in theory about the relevant strategy elements and subsequently no cohesive strategy framework, which supports the description of technology platform strategies. Therefore, in this paper we develop a consistent strategy framework for technology platforms in diversified companies, in order to describe sustainable strategies for technology platforms.