Scaling digital solutions for wicked problems: Ecosystem versatility

Digital solutions are increasingly used to address ‘‘wicked problems’’ that are locally embedded but require global approaches. Scaling these solutions internationally is imperative for their success, but to date we know little about this process. Using a qualitative case study methodology, our pape...

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Main Authors: TATARINOV, Katherine, AMBOS, Tina, TSCHANG, Feichin Ted
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Language:English
Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2023
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Online Access:https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/7374
https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/lkcsb_research/article/8373/viewcontent/Scaling_digita.pdf
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spelling sg-smu-ink.lkcsb_research-83732024-02-20T06:46:49Z Scaling digital solutions for wicked problems: Ecosystem versatility TATARINOV, Katherine AMBOS, Tina TSCHANG, Feichin Ted Digital solutions are increasingly used to address ‘‘wicked problems’’ that are locally embedded but require global approaches. Scaling these solutions internationally is imperative for their success, but to date we know little about this process. Using a qualitative case study methodology, our paper analyzes how four digital solutions driven by the United Nations are built and how they scale internationally. These solutions address wicked problems through artificial intelligence, blockchain, and geospatial mapping, and are embedded in networks of partners which evolve during scaling to create unique ecosystem roles and configurations. We identify different ecosystem roles and find that the specific properties of digital solutions – modularity, generativity and affordances – enable either adaptation or replication during scaling. Building on these insights, we derive a typology of four different types of international scaling, which vary in their ecosystem versatility (how the ecosystem changes across locations) and the local adaptation of the application (the problems the solution addresses). This study presents a new way to examine the replication and adaptation dilemma for ecosystems and extends internationalization theory to the digital world. 2023-06-01T07:00:00Z text application/pdf https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/7374 info:doi/10.1057/s41267-022-00526-6 https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/lkcsb_research/article/8373/viewcontent/Scaling_digita.pdf http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business eng Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University digital solutions scaling ecosystems technology wicked problems UnitedNations qualitative case study Organizational Behavior and Theory Strategic Management Policy Technology and Innovation
institution Singapore Management University
building SMU Libraries
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider SMU Libraries
collection InK@SMU
language English
topic digital solutions
scaling
ecosystems
technology
wicked problems
UnitedNations
qualitative
case study
Organizational Behavior and Theory
Strategic Management Policy
Technology and Innovation
spellingShingle digital solutions
scaling
ecosystems
technology
wicked problems
UnitedNations
qualitative
case study
Organizational Behavior and Theory
Strategic Management Policy
Technology and Innovation
TATARINOV, Katherine
AMBOS, Tina
TSCHANG, Feichin Ted
Scaling digital solutions for wicked problems: Ecosystem versatility
description Digital solutions are increasingly used to address ‘‘wicked problems’’ that are locally embedded but require global approaches. Scaling these solutions internationally is imperative for their success, but to date we know little about this process. Using a qualitative case study methodology, our paper analyzes how four digital solutions driven by the United Nations are built and how they scale internationally. These solutions address wicked problems through artificial intelligence, blockchain, and geospatial mapping, and are embedded in networks of partners which evolve during scaling to create unique ecosystem roles and configurations. We identify different ecosystem roles and find that the specific properties of digital solutions – modularity, generativity and affordances – enable either adaptation or replication during scaling. Building on these insights, we derive a typology of four different types of international scaling, which vary in their ecosystem versatility (how the ecosystem changes across locations) and the local adaptation of the application (the problems the solution addresses). This study presents a new way to examine the replication and adaptation dilemma for ecosystems and extends internationalization theory to the digital world.
format text
author TATARINOV, Katherine
AMBOS, Tina
TSCHANG, Feichin Ted
author_facet TATARINOV, Katherine
AMBOS, Tina
TSCHANG, Feichin Ted
author_sort TATARINOV, Katherine
title Scaling digital solutions for wicked problems: Ecosystem versatility
title_short Scaling digital solutions for wicked problems: Ecosystem versatility
title_full Scaling digital solutions for wicked problems: Ecosystem versatility
title_fullStr Scaling digital solutions for wicked problems: Ecosystem versatility
title_full_unstemmed Scaling digital solutions for wicked problems: Ecosystem versatility
title_sort scaling digital solutions for wicked problems: ecosystem versatility
publisher Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University
publishDate 2023
url https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/7374
https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/lkcsb_research/article/8373/viewcontent/Scaling_digita.pdf
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