Digital platforms as dynamic capability infrastructures: orchestrating open innovation and business process management in global technology firms

Abstract

This study aims to examine how large technology multinationals use digital platforms as dynamic capability infrastructures to integrate open innovation (OI) with business process management (BPM) via absorptive capacity mechanisms. The study adopts a qualitative multi-case design based on four global technology firms. Data were collected from 30 elite interviews, 24 annual reports, and more than 300 webpages and analysed through a three-stage coding process. The findings show that digital platforms support open innovation by enabling firms to sense external opportunities, seize knowledge from distributed actors and reconfigure innovation-related business processes. Four strategic objectives shape platform deployment: developing global expert networks, accelerating digital transformation, accessing external R&D talent and exploring future technologies. The study also identifies firm-, managerial- and employee-level challenges that affect the integration of platform-generated knowledge into BPM routines. The qualitative case design provides rich process insight but limits statistical generalisability. Future research could test the proposed relationships through quantitative and longitudinal designs. Managers should align platform types with open innovation objectives, establish clear governance mechanisms, invest in absorptive capacity and develop analytics and digital skills to translate external knowledge into process improvements. The study contributes by conceptualising digital platforms as infrastructures that connect open innovation with BPM through dynamic capabilities and absorptive capacity. It clarifies how platform-enabled knowledge flows are embedded into business processes and identifies the organisational conditions that support or constrain this integration.