Platform - Publications - Faculty & Research

03 Apr 2020
News

If You Want to Survive a Downturn? Build a Better Platform

08 Feb 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Platform Systems vs. Step Processes—The Value of Options and the Power of Modularity

Article

Spontaneous Deregulation: How to Compete with Platforms That Ignore the Rules

By: Benjamin Edelman and Damien Geradin

Many successful platform businesses—think Airbnb, Uber, and YouTube—ignore laws and regulations that appear to preclude their approach. The rule-flouting phenomenon is something we call "spontaneous private deregulation," and it is not new. Benign or otherwise,... View Details

Keywords: Regulation; Deregulation; Innovation And Strategy; Innovation Strategy; Laws and Statutes; Transportation Industry; Accommodations Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry

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September 2021 (Revised December 2021)
Case

Telepass: From Tolling to Mobility Platform (Abridged)

By: Chiara Farronato, Stefano Denicolai and Sarah Mehta

Telepass, until very recently the sole processor of electronic toll payments on Italy’s highways, has ambitions beyond tolling. Since the mid-2010s, the company has been expanding into adjacent services. In 2017, Telepass launched TelepassPay—a mobile payment... View Details

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June 2015 (Revised May 2017)
Teaching Note

Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform

By: John A. Quelch

Keywords: Healthcare; Experiential Quality; Conformance Quality; Clinical Outcomes; Cost Efficiency; Quality; Performance; Health Care and Treatment

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18 Dec 2018
News

Why Some Platforms Thrive and Others Don’t

24 Apr 2014
News

Using an online platform to reinvent education

With more than 350 million lessons delivered worldwide, on everything from arithmetic and physics to history and art, Salman Khan (MBA 2003) is on a mission to provide a free education for anyone, anywhere, through his not-for-profit Khan Academy. Students young and... View Details

July 2019
Supplement

Lexoo: Building a Long-Lasting Platform Video Supplement

By: Chiara Farronato and Elena Corsi

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2014
Working Paper

Search Diversion and Platform Competition Online Appendix

By: Andrei Hagiu and Bruno Jullien

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01 Jun 2015
Working Paper Summaries

Frenemies in Platform Markets: The Case of Apple’s iPad vs. Amazon’s Kindle

Keywords: by Ron Adner, Jianqing Chen & Feng Zhu; Technology

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

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28 Jul 2020
News

Racism and Digital Design: How Online Platforms Can Thwart Discrimination

November 2013
Teaching Note

Research In Motion: The Mobile OS Platform War

By: Alan MacCormack, Brian Kimball Dunn and Chris F. Kemerer

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6 Apr 2011
Conference Presentation

Finding Technical Debt in Platform and Network Architectures

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin and Alan MacCormack

Keywords: Information Infrastructure; Design

Citation

27 Aug 2020
Podcast

Braintrust takes aim at the gig platform middleman

Braintrust’s gig model gives freelancers the opportunity to keep more of what they earn and to have a say in running the platform. The not-for-profit aims to upend the status quo by replacing the typical gig middleman and assigning governing rights to users. The... View Details

2019
Book

The Business of Platforms: Strategy in the Age of Digital Competition, Innovation, and Power

By: Michael A. Cusumano, Annabelle Gawer and David B. Yoffie

The Business of Platforms explores the strategic, economic, and technology management challenges of digital platform businesses. We have five major themes in the book: 1) The world’s most valuable companies are all platforms, in part because platforms have... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Technology; Platform; Internet and the Web; Management; Competitive Strategy; Digital Platforms

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Article

Finding the Platform in Your Product: Four Strategies That Can Reveal Hidden Value

By: Andrei Hagiu and Elizabeth J. Altman

Five of the 10 most valuable companies in the world today—Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Facebook, and Microsoft—derive much of their worth from their multisided platforms (MSPs), which facilitate interactions or transactions between parties. Many MSPs are more valuable than... View Details

Keywords: Multi-Sided Platforms; Competitive Strategy; Value Creation

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30 Oct 2018
Working Paper Summaries

Design Rules, Volume 2: How Technology Shapes Organizations: Chapter 14 Introducing Open Platforms and Business Ecosystems

Keywords: by Carliss Y. Baldwin

June 2023 (Revised October 2024)
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 access... View Details

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

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