Social-mission platforms (SMPs), or platforms that facilitate the interactions between stakeholders across sectors and help them exchange resources to make progress on social and environmental problems, have emerged on a global scale. However, despite their prevalence, little is known about how SMPs organize to orchestrate collective efforts of social innovation. Taking stock of information systems and organizational literature on platforms, we identify four dimensions inherent in platform organizing (i.e., identity, boundary, governance, and technology). We then analyze three case studies to interrogate how these organizing dimensions manifest in SMPs. As a result, we offer a conceptual framework highlighting the trade-offs SMPs face, specifying the design choices they can make, and exposing the interdependences between dimensions. We further illustrate how these interdependences inform a configurational perspective of SMPs and suggest avenues to advance a configurational research agenda to deepen understanding of SMPs as effective vehicles to address Grand Challenges.

中文翻译：

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社会使命平台的组织多样性：推进配置性研究议程


社会使命平台（SMP），即促进跨部门利益相关者之间互动并帮助他们交换资源以在社会和环境问题上取得进展的平台，已经在全球范围内出现。然而，尽管中小型事务所很普遍，但人们对中小型事务所如何组织起来协调社会创新的集体努力却知之甚少。通过盘点有关平台的信息系统和组织文献，我们确定了平台组织固有的四个维度（即身份、边界、治理和技术）。然后，我们分析了三个案例研究，以探讨这些组织维度如何在 SMP 中体现。因此，我们提供了一个概念框架，强调中小型企业面临的权衡，指定他们可以做出的设计选择，并揭示维度之间的相互依赖关系。我们进一步说明这些相互依存关系如何影响 SMP 的配置视角，并提出推进配置研究议程的途径，以加深对 SMP 作为应对重大挑战的有效工具的理解。