Abstract
In addition to the development of social technology and the widespread use of the internet, the fact that people are getting used to sharing their goods and services has made the concept of sharing economy a popular issue. Sharing economy is “a potential new way for sustainability,” and it is noted that it would disrupt the unsustainable hyper-consumption practices directing capitalist economies. In this regard, the importance of sharing economy becomes prominent. In this study, first of all, basic information was given about sharing economy and then the concepts about how it made progress were introduced. In the next step, the definitions of sharing economy were given, the importance of sharing was mentioned, and then the products used in sharing economy were mentioned. In the following stage, the benefits of sharing economy to nature were addressed, and the weaknesses and dark sides of sharing economy were revealed. Finally, the impact of the sharing economy on the service sector was emphasized, and opinions were presented for future research on this subject.
TopIntroduction
For the enterprises prior to digital transformation, the concept of digital transformation was a holistic form of business transformation accompanied by fundamental economic and technological changes provided by information systems at both organizational and industrial levels (Chanias, Myers & Hess, 2019: 17). In addition to the development of social technology and the widespread use of the Internet, the fact that people are getting used to sharing their goods and services has made the concept of sharing and collaboration a popular issue (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). Sharing also continues to be a daily practice in today’s world (Wittel, 2011); while families share their fruits with their workers, societies share the access to water resources. For this reason, it is not surprising that sharing forms mediated by the digital world have emerged. Digital planning is a strategy that involves a “fusion view” in which both information systems and business strategy are equalized. In other words, it is now difficult to distinguish between business strategy and information technology strategies (Chanias, Myers & Hess, 2019: 17).
Rather, it is the present framing of these forms of sharing as a radical and disruptive action that can be accepted as unique (Belk, 2014). Nonetheless, such advocates as Botsman and Rogers (2010a) identified sharing economy mediated by the digital in the late 1990s and early 2000s and framed these sharing forms as incredible. In this period, online platforms emerged through which peers could communicate with each other on such a scale never seen before. The attitudes towards consumption has changed in the recent years, which has brought increasing concerns about ecological, social and developmental effects. Increasing concerns about climate change and the desire to be socially embedded in terms of locality and social consumption (Albinsson&Perera, 2012; Belk, 2010; Botsman& Rogers, 2010a) have transformed the concept of “collaborative consumption/sharing economy “into a peer-to-peer activity coordinated with community-based online services that involve access to obtain, give or share the goods and services.
The rapid growth of the sharing economy (SE) have increasingly triggered the effects on the different aspects of the socio-economic system (Cheng, 2016: 60). Among classic examples are; open source software platforms (e.g.SourceForge and Github), collaborative online encyclopedias (e.g. Wikipedia), other content sharing websites (e.g. YouTube, Instagram) and peer-to-peer file sharing (e.g. The Pirate Bay). More recent examples include peer-to-peer financing platforms such as micro debt (e.g. Kiva) and crowdfunding services (e.g. Kickstarter). Open source software, online collaboration, file sharing and peer-to-peer financing are the different areas of what is called “sharing economy”. The phenomenon of sharing economy emerges as the technological development that simplifies sharing with the availability of different information systems of both physical and non-physical goods and services on the Internet. While introducing new players in many areas, some (e.g. Airbnb, 2014) replaced older players, and others became dominant in their own fields (PwC, 2015a).
In this study, first of all, basic information was given about sharing economy and then, information was presented regarding digital learning, digitalization and digital transformation. In the next step, the definitions of sharing economy were given, the importance of sharing was mentioned, and then the products used in sharing economy were mentioned. In the following stage, the benefits of sharing economy to nature were addressed and the weaknesses and dark sides of sharing economy were revealed. Finally, the impact of the sharing economy on the tourism sector was emphasized and opinions were presented for future research on this subject. As the study was designed as a book chapter and accordingly involved certain criteria, it was designed as a literature review on technology, digitalization and sharing economy.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Platforms: The network, marketplace or any other digitally enabled mechanism used to facilitate an exchange between peers.
Providers: Supplier side of marketplaces providing goods and services.
Gig Economy: Systems that break up a traditional company ‘job’ into individual ‘gigs’ that independent workers are paid to do for a defined time.
Customers: Any bodies of demand side of a marketplace wanting goods and services.
Sharing Economy: Systems that facilitate the sharing of underused/unused assets or services, for free or for a fee, directly between individuals or organizations.