Abstract

Digital platforms have emerged as a new, innovative and powerful way of organizing business. One area where digital platforms have disrupted traditional business models and organizational forms is the taxi business, with Uber as the most well-known example. As in many countries, the entrance of Uber has come to shake the Swedish taxi industry. In this paper, we analyze how Uber interact with institutional forces in the Swedish taxi market. We do this by the means of a discourse analysis. The analysis concludes that the digital artefacts and conceptual universe of Uber needs to be merged with the Swedish Taxi discourse for Uber to get foothold within the same. The challenge for Uber then becomes to be successfully incorporated, made meaningful and understood as a natural part of an already existing discursive system. Consequently, digital platforms do appear in various discursive systems as contenders and competitors to already established actors.

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