From Networked Firms to Digital Scalability

We live in an increasingly networked world, where physical links interact with digital connections, and value co-creation paradigms enhance disrupting business models.\r\nThe interactions among the traditional stakeholders (shareholders, managers, employees, banks, suppliers, customers, etc.) are reshaped by the presence of digital platforms that act as a bridging agent and represent a “virtual” stakeholder. This is the case, for instance, in B2B2C eCommerce applications or in real-time information exchanges where big data fuel artificial intelligence patterns. \r\nIn this evolutionary ecosystem, traditional firms coexist with innovative startups: while the former undergo a complex digital transition, the latter face Darwinian selection. Cross-pollination represents a form of win-win interaction between conventional and digitally-born firms. This dialectic interplay may be interpreted with Plato’s allegory of the cave, wondering if the shadows perceived by the prisoners represent the real or the digital world.\r\nA trendy complementary theory is represented by complex – multilayer – networks where mutual layers interact. Digital platforms can be reinterpreted accordingly, as they represent a bridging node that connects several layers, adding value to the whole ecosystem. \r\nThis chapter shows that networks, together with their uneasy mathematical properties, contribute to a path-breaking reinterpretation of the theory of the Coasian firm. This essay fills a gap in the existing literature, adding an innovative interpretation to classic corporate governance concerns.