DOI: https://doi.org/10.36347/sjebm.2026.v13i06.005

Pages: 276-291

Platform strategy theory has emerged as a central framework for understanding value creation, competitive dynamics, and governance in digital ecosystems and multi-sided markets. This study combines a systematic literature review with a bibliometric analysis, drawing on data from Scopus, Web of Science, and Dimensions, and visualizing them in VOS viewer to map the intellectual structure and global collaboration patterns of the field. The analysis traces the theory's evolution from foundational economic models of network effects and modularity toward more interdisciplinary frameworks incorporating strategic management, information systems, and social science perspectives. Co-authorship and co-citation networks reveal a research landscape increasingly distributed across international institutions, with notable concentration in the United States, China, and the United Kingdom, and an emerging role for institutions in Europe and the Asia Pacific region. Thematically, the field is shifting from static competitive models toward dynamic governance, ecosystem design, and technology-driven platform scaling. Despite significant theoretical development, three persistent gaps are identified: the absence of a unified, integrative framework; limited empirical validation of core constructs, such as network effects and modularity, across non-Western and non-technology contexts; and insufficient attention to governance tensions across platform lifecycle stages. Practical applications are examined in healthcare, agriculture, and e-commerce, with analysis of platforms including Uber, Airbnb, and John Deere. The review concludes with a research agenda addressing governance modeling, cross-industry empirical work, behavioral adoption mechanisms, underrepresented regional contexts, and the integration of artificial intelligence and blockchain into platform governance.