Effectiveness of control mechanisms in mobile platform ecosystem

•The principal–agency relationship cannot be assumed between ecosystems leader and partners; which are independent organisations. So results of research on control in IS research cannot be directly applied in the context of ecosystems.•We used PLS to identify how input, behavioural and output control should be used to manage complex platform based ecosystems.•The data for the research is collected through an online survey, we received 94 completed responses from senior managers and researchers from India.•The ecosystem leaders manage dependencies among partners through a combination of output and behavioural control. In contrast, access to complementary resources is achieved through input and behavioural control. The ecosystems leaders also safeguard customer relationships from other partners through a combination of output and behavioural controls.•The research extends control theory in the realm of platform based ecosystems. The research highlights the differential impact of different types of control mechanisms.

Mobile Internet services are offered by complex ecosystems, which are difficult to control. While control theory has been applied to traditional forms of interorganisational software development, it is yet unclear how input, behavioural and output control should be used to manage complex ecosystems. This paper analyses the impact of a portfolio of ecosystem control mechanisms on a set of performance criteria through a survey. We find that ecosystem leaders manage dependencies among partners through a combination of outcome and behavioural control. In contrast, access to complementary resources is achieved through input and behavioural control. The ecosystem leaders also safeguard customer relationships from other partners through a combination of outcome and behavioural controls. The study extends traditional control theory towards the emerging realm of platform-based mobile service development.