• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.808-831
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• 2020

The business world has been undergoing a digital transformation. The adoption of multi-sided digital platform across the world has sped up this transformation. Multi-sided digital platforms create value by mediating interactions and transactions of distinct groups of users. A platform and its stakeholders need to be considered as a business ecosystem. Elements or components in the ecosystem exchange values and together form a network of exchange values. The objective of this paper is to construct a framework for crafting and observing digital business ecosystems. The foundation theories used to construct the framework are transaction cost economy (TCE), multi-sided markets, and value network. This paper uses Go-Jek, a growing ride-hailing platform from Indonesia, as a case to discuss how the framework works in mapping Go-Jek's digital business ecosystem, and then explain its expansion strategy. This paper has both theoretical and managerial contributions. It provides a formal definition of digital business ecosystems as a network of exchange values. The framework does not only help studies the existing business ecosystems but also can be used to craft a new business ecosystem. It can also be used to study value exchanges within the ecosystem, assessing or crafting ecosystem expansion strategies.