Platformizing the Organization through Decoupling and Recoupling: A longitudinal case study of a government agency

Digital platforms are known for their ability to produce and reproduce flexible solutions for multiple user groups and for attracting third-party developers. Consequently, the unit of analysis for digital platforms is often the consumer market. In contrast, in this paper, we investigate how platformization has the potential to increase digital innovation within organizations through a transformation of legacy systems and the organizational structure. Empirically, we draw on a longitudinal case study of a Norwegian government agency following their platformization process over two years. In advancing a sociotechnical perspective on platformization, we offer three distinct contributions. First, we contribute by theorizing how existing legacy systems are discontinued in processes of decoupling. Second, we capture how this enables novel recombination of knowledge and skills in the recoupling processes, which, in turn, facilitates new ways of working and organizing. Third, we theorize on how decoupling and recoupling processes interact, thus facilitating increased levels of platformization