Publications

Find at Harvard

09 Dec 2015
Research Event

When Hosts Attack: The Competitive Threat of Online Platforms

application developers turn to the App Store for digital distribution. The platform providers are their selling partners, scraping off a little bit for themselves on each sale. It’s a great arrangement for small businesses—until their... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Retail; Technology; Web Services

Video

Our Difference - Social Learning

October 2024
Article

Strategic Decision Making at Platform Transitions: The Case of Nokia (2010-2011).

By: Timo O. Vuori and Michael Tushman

We studied Nokia’s decision to adopt the Windows platform in 2011 to induce new theory on the emotional dynamics of incumbent firms’ strategic decision making at platform transitions. We find that platform companies’ entry into an established industry activates a... View Details

Keywords: Emotions; Technology Adoption; Corporate Strategy; Transition

02 Jun 2014
Research & Ideas

Excerpt: ‘A Social Strategy’

book excerpt What My Research Revealed, In Broad Strokes From A Social Strategy: How We Profit From Social Media By Mikolaj Jan Piskorski As I began my research, it quickly became clear that there are two... View Details

Frenemies in Platform Markets: Heterogeneous Profit Foci as Drivers of Compatibility Decisions

We study compatibility decisions of two competing platform owners that generate profits through both hardware sales and royalties from content sales. We consider a game-theoretic model in which two platforms offer different standalone utilities to users. We find that... View Details

11 Nov 2020
Research & Ideas

How Hackathons Help Decide Platform Winners and Losers

colleagues highlights the pivotal role played by such gatherings in creating winners and losers in the platform world. “Platform Diffusion at Temporary Gatherings: Social Coordination and Ecosystem... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Technology

March 2020 (Revised June 2023)
Case

Scaling Nextdoor

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Thomas O. Jones and Jeff Huizinga

Nextdoor, striving to solidify its position as the leading global social media platform for neighborhoods, works to scale audience, geography, and revenue. View Details

Keywords: Platforms; Information Technology; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Social Media; Digital Platforms

Educators

Web

Harvard Business School Online Courses & Learning Platforms

with Digital Platforms Professor Feng Zhu Explore digital platforms' unique properties, opportunities, and risks, and develop scalable strategies that drive growth and deliver a competitive advantage. 5 weeks, 6-7 hrs/week Enroll by... View Details

30 Jun 2010
News

Vision Statement: Mapping the Social Internet

June 2023
Supplement

Clash of Two Giants Simulation Exercise

By: Feng Zhu and Marco Iansiti

Many markets are organized around platforms that connect consumers with complementary applications and services. These platforms are two-sided because both sides - consumers and those providing applications or services - need access to the same platform to interact. A... View Details

Keywords: Customer Acquisition; Platform Strategy; Technology Platform; Digital Platforms; Competitive Strategy; Network Effects

24 Oct 2023
Research & Ideas

When Tech Platforms Identify Black-Owned Businesses, White Customers Buy

social unrest and outrage sparked by the murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in May 2020. The landscape of programs has evolved over time. Wayfair piloted their Black supplier program in early 2023. “We wanted to... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald; Food & Beverage

June 2023 (Revised August 2023)
Teaching Note

Clash of Two Giants Simulation Exercise Teaching Note

By: Feng Zhu

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 623-092. Many markets are organized around platforms that connect consumers with complimentary applications and services. These platforms are two-sided because both sides - consumers and those providing applications or services - need... View Details

Keywords: Platform Strategy; Customer Acquisition; Technology Platform; Competitive Strategy; Network Effects; Digital Platforms; Management Skills

December 2019
Case

Steemit: A New Social Media?

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Alexander White and Karen Elterman

This case discusses the alternative social media site Steemit, including the principles it was founded on in 2016 and the challenges it faced in 2019. Steemit was a blockchain-based platform that aimed to differentiate itself from other social media companies by... View Details

Educators

2023
Working Paper

Senior Team Emotional Dynamics and Strategic Decision Making at a Platform Transition

By: Timo O. Vuori and Michael L. Tushman

Based on an inductive case study, we develop an emotional-temporal process model of an incumbent’s strategic decision making at a platform transition. We describe the senior team’s emotional response to this transition and the impact of these emotions on their... View Details

Keywords: Emotions; Decision Choices and Conditions; Transition; Digital Platforms

January 2014
Case

Social Strategy at Cisco Systems

By: Mikolaj Jan Piskorski, Daniel Malter and Aaron Smith

In April 2013, Jeanne Beliveau-Dunn, vice president and general manager for Learning@Cisco Systems, was planning the future of the Cisco Learning Network, an online platform hosted at Cisco.com. Since its launch in 2008, the Cisco Learning Network provided content to... View Details

Keywords: Networks; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Competency and Skills; Learning; Web Services Industry

Educators

February 4, 2013
Guest Column

How Facebook Can Totally Undermine Apple and Google in the Platform Games

By: Andrei Hagiu

Today, Facebook seems like the juggernaut crushing everything in its path, most recently Twitter's Vine app and Yandex's social app. And in its last quarter, Facebook's mobile usage surpassed its web usage—for the first time ever. This is important because Facebook has... View Details

Keywords: Technology Industry

27 Aug 2015
Video

MBA student starts up a social enterprise

June 2023
Exercise

Clash of Two Giants Simulation Exercise Instructions

By: Feng Zhu and Marco Iansiti

Many markets are organized around platforms that connect consumers with complimentary applications and services. These platforms are two-sided because both sides - consumers and those providing applications or services - need access to the same platform to interact. A... View Details

Keywords: Platform Strategies; Technology Platform; Customer Acquisition; Network Effects; Digital Platforms; Marketplace Matching; Strategy