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Taking the measure of digital giants: Amazon and the Social Welfare Computing research agenda

Author

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  • Frantz Rowe

    (Nantes Université, LEMNA and Institut d’Administration des Entreprises
    SKEMA Business School, SKEMA Business School, Knowledge, Technology and Organization Department)

  • M. Lynne Markus

    (Bentley University)

Abstract

How can and should the IS field best contribute to the Social Welfare Computing research agenda, which seeks to assess unintended consequences and propose better solutions related to the potential harms of digital business practices? In this discussion paper, we take Amazon.com, Inc. as an instance of a giant digital company and examine it structurally as a sociotechnical actor engaging in a broad range of digital features and business practices. The picture that emerges from this analysis (a company engaging in systematically unfair competitive behavior) is quite different from one derived from the IS literature about Amazon as a company (a technologically savvy and strategically successful player). This analysis is provisional and deserves to be reproduced, possibly by reassembling the IS literature on such topics as electronic marketplaces, recommender systems, and online reviews, into a specific profile for each of the digital giants. Regardless, the analysis is this paper suggests the possibility of blindspots in traditional IS research on digital business activities, and it offers some suggestions for future research on the Social Welfare Computing research agenda. In particular, IS scholarship should emphasize corporate actors in addition to isolated technology features and business practices.

Suggested Citation

  • Frantz Rowe & M. Lynne Markus, 2022. "Taking the measure of digital giants: Amazon and the Social Welfare Computing research agenda," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 32(2), pages 437-446, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:elmark:v:32:y:2022:i:2:d:10.1007_s12525-022-00544-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s12525-022-00544-0
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    1. Eric K. Clemons & Ravi V. Waran & Sebastian Hermes & Maximilian Schreieck & Helmut Krcmar, 2022. "Computing and Social Welfare," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 32(2), pages 417-436, June.
    2. Eric K. Clemons & Maximilian Schreieck & Helmut Krcmar & Tung Bui, 2022. "Social Welfare Computing and the management and regulation of new online business models," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 32(2), pages 411-414, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Social Welfare Computing; Digital giants; Competition; Regulation and regulators; Industry structure analysis; Sociotechnical analysis;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L4 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

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