Industrieplattformen als Markt‑, Produktions- und Innovationsflächen. Feldvermessungen und theoretisch-konzeptionelle Überlegungen

This article argues for an urgently needed shift in perspective: from the concentration of social science research on the platforms of the consumption- and communication-based Internet to the investigation of the platform-centered reorganization of industrial distribution, production and innovation processes, which are less often the focus of scientific attention. On the basis of the available literature and own empirical research, a mapping and categorization of this still little explored field is undertaken, typical structural patterns and variants of industrial platforms are identified and their characteristics are compared with those of the consumption- and communication-based Internet. Subsequently, it is argued from a theoretical-conceptual perspective that industrial platforms indicate the emergence of an independent form of organization and coordination of market, production and innovation processes, which differs substantially from industrial cooperation networks in particular and whose dominant mode of coordination can be defined as rule-based curation.