Logic Pluralism in Mobile Platform Ecosystems: A Study of Indie App Developers on the iOS App Store
Authors: Qiu, Yixin; Gopal, Anandasivam; Hann, Il-Horn
Journal: Information Systems Research (2017)
<jats:p>The software development field has inherently been identified with two field-level institutional logics, i.e., logic of the profession and logic of the markets. Traditionally, information systems development methodologies have been used to reconcile the competing demands from these two logics. In this paper, we study how these two logics manifest in a platform-based software ecosystem where significant entrepreneurial opportunities are created for independent third-party app developers (indies). Specifically, we study how indie developers manage the two logics on the iOS platform ecosystem under the influence of the platform owner Apple. We first identify practices of indie developers consistent with the two field logics across three entrepreneurial domains, i.e., app ideation, execution, and marketing. Second, we identify areas where the two field logics may be in conflict as well as in coexistence. We show that indie developers enact logic conflict through disagreement and denunciation of the opposing logic. When logics that are inherently opposed appear to coexist, we investigate how app developers manage these opposing demands through a process we call logic synthesis.…