Traditional enterprises face transformation challenges in the digital era, while platform enterprises drive change by integrating IT with industrial processes. Data-driven ecosystems enhance resource sharing, efficiency, and innovation, but tensions like resource sharing versus competition shape ecosystem evolution. This study examines platform enterprises in business ecosystems, integrating ecosystem strategic theory to analyze multilateral interactions, mechanisms, classifications, and outcomes. Participants are categorized into four quadrants, moving beyond traditional linear classifications, and interactions are explored across proactive, reactive, self-driven, and collaborative dimensions. Using Haier Group’s COSMOPlat platform as a case, the study highlights how traditional enterprises leverage platforms for innovation and sustainable growth. It also underscores the often-overlooked role of individual leaders in micro-level ecosystem leadership, providing a foundation for future research. By contributing to ecosystem leadership and organization ecology literature, the study offers insights into value co-creation, resource coordination, and ecosystem sustainability while addressing gaps in understanding participant roles and interaction dynamics.
