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Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(1,116)
- People (1)
- News (214)
- Research (766)
- Events (11)
- Multimedia (5)
- Faculty Publications (573)
- Teaching Interest
Competing in the Age of Digital Platforms—(Executive Education)
By: David B. Yoffie
Summary
Without exception, the most valuable companies in the world today are platforms. Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Google, Facebook, and many other firms have built their fortunes by facilitating innovation across global ecosystems or... View Details
Without exception, the most valuable companies in the world today are platforms. Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Google, Facebook, and many other firms have built their fortunes by facilitating innovation across global ecosystems or... 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
Cusumano, Michael A., Annabelle Gawer, and David B. Yoffie. The Business of Platforms: Strategy in the Age of Digital Competition, Innovation, and Power. Harper Business, 2019.
- October 2019 (Revised January 2020)
- Case
Fixing Facebook: Fake News, Privacy, and Platform Governance
By: David Yoffie and Daniel Fisher
Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook based on the idea that connecting people was a fundamentally good thing—and a way to turn a handsome profit. But from the beginning, Facebook received criticism both for how it handled user privacy and how it curated user-generated... View Details
Keywords: Platform; Governance; Privacy; Internet and the Web; Corporate Governance; Ethics; Business and Government Relations; Strategy; Digital Platforms; Web Services Industry
Yoffie, David, and Daniel Fisher. "Fixing Facebook: Fake News, Privacy, and Platform Governance." Harvard Business School Case 720-400, October 2019. (Revised January 2020.)
- 2018
- Working Paper
Platform Competition: Betfair and the U.K. Market for Sports Betting
By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Neil Campbell
We examine two episodes of strategic interaction in the U.K. betting industry: (i) Betfair (an entrant multi-sided platform or MSP) vs. Flutter (also an MSP), and (ii) Betfair vs. traditional bookmakers. We find that although Betfair was an underfunded second mover in... View Details
Keywords: Platform Design; Betting; Digital Platforms; Design; Network Effects; Business Model; Competition; Cooperation; Market Entry and Exit
Casadesus-Masanell, Ramon, and Neil Campbell. "Platform Competition: Betfair and the U.K. Market for Sports Betting." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 19-057, November 2018.
The Internet’s Effects on Consumption: Useful, Harmful, Playful
A unifying framework is presented for thinking about the diverse digital trnsformations of the past decade: their utilities, their harms, and their ability to reward play. Individual creativity has been liberated from corporate gatekeepers, and platforms have... View Details
- 2007
- Working Paper
Platform Envelopment
By: Thomas Eisenmann, Geoffrey Parker and Marshall Van Alstyne
Due to network effects and switching costs in platform markets, entrants generally must offer revolutionary functionality. We explore a second entry path that does not rely upon Schumpeterian innovation: platform envelopment. Through envelopment, a provider in one... View Details
Eisenmann, Thomas, Geoffrey Parker, and Marshall Van Alstyne. "Platform Envelopment." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 07-104, June 2007. (Revised September 2008, October 2009, July 2010.)
- Aug 27 2019
- Interview
What's Your Platform Strategy?
- November 2021 (Revised December 2022)
- Case
Farfetch: Digital Transformation for Luxury Brands
By: Sunil Gupta, Jill Avery, Elena Corsi and Federica Gabrieli
Farfetch, a global luxury technology platform and digital marketplace had been surfing the wave of digital transformation in the luxury fashion industry since 2008. While the company’s stock price and market valuation had fluctuated since its IPO in 2018, it had... View Details
Keywords: Digital Marketing; Marketplaces; Retailing; Internet Marketing; E-Commerce Strategy; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Marketing Channels; Brands and Branding; Luxury; Growth and Development Strategy; Digital Transformation; E-commerce; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Fashion Industry; Retail Industry; Web Services Industry; Technology Industry; United Kingdom; Europe; Portugal; China
Gupta, Sunil, Jill Avery, Elena Corsi, and Federica Gabrieli. "Farfetch: Digital Transformation for Luxury Brands." Harvard Business School Case 522-051, November 2021. (Revised December 2022.)
- 2019
- Working Paper
Design Rules, Volume 2: How Technology Shapes Organizations: Chapter 17 The Wintel Standards-based Platform
The purpose of this chapter is to use the theory of bottlenecks laid out in previous chapters to better understand the dynamics of an open standards-based platform. I describe how the Wintel platform evolved from 1990 through 2000 under joint sponsorship of Intel and... View Details
Keywords: Open Platforms; Bottlenecks; Wintel Platform; Disintermediation; Information Infrastructure; Applications and Software; Business History; Digital Platforms; Computer Industry
Baldwin, Carliss Y. "Design Rules, Volume 2: How Technology Shapes Organizations: Chapter 17 The Wintel Standards-based Platform." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 20-055, November 2019.
- 2011
- Working Paper
Quantity vs. Quality: Exclusion by Platforms with Network Effects
By: Andrei Hagiu
This paper provides a simple model of platforms with direct network effects, in which users value not just the quantity (i.e., number) of other users who join, but also their average quality in some dimension. A monopoly platform is more likely to exclude low-quality... View Details
Keywords: Multi-sided Platforms; Exclusion; Quality And Quantity; Cost; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Network Effects; Market Participation; Digital Platforms; Monopoly; Quality; Motivation and Incentives; Strategy
Hagiu, Andrei. "Quantity vs. Quality: Exclusion by Platforms with Network Effects." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 11-125, May 2011.
- 01 Mar 2018
- News
Can a Digital Platform Open Up the Opaque Metals Industry?
revenues compared to third-party traders who orchestrated sales between the two. “It felt fundamentally unfair to us,” Eykher says. “We figured there had to be a better way to do things.” In September 2017, they launched Open Mineral, a cloud-based B2B View Details
Keywords: Nicole Torres
- 22 Jan 2020
- Podcast
From opt-in to check-out: How digital platforms are transforming retail
Dan O’Connor, retail expert and executive-in-residence with the HBS Managing the Future of Work project, traces the evolution of retail from the corner store through big-box, e-commerce, and the emergence of omni-faceted digital platforms. What are the implications for... View Details
- October 2021 (Revised December 2021)
- Case
PhonePe: Democratizing Payments in India
By: Michael Chu and Rachna Tahilyani
The co-founders of PhonePe, India’s leading digital payment platform are considering pursuing various growth opportunities in a huge country just entering the digital age. In a highly competitive industry, the founders are keenly aware that making the right choices is... View Details
Keywords: Digital Platform; Digital Banking; Business Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Digital Platforms; Financial Services Industry; Asia; India
Chu, Michael, and Rachna Tahilyani. "PhonePe: Democratizing Payments in India." Harvard Business School Case 322-053, October 2021. (Revised December 2021.)
- Article
Repositioning and Cost-Cutting: The Impact of Competition on Platform Strategies
By: Robert Seamans and Feng Zhu
Organizational structures are increasingly complex. In particular, more firms today operate as multi-sided platforms. In this paper, we study how platform firms use repositioning and cost-cutting in response to competition, elucidate external and internal factors that... View Details
Keywords: Platform Strategy; Repositioning; Cost-cutting; Intra-firm Learning; Multi-Sided Platforms; Cost Management; Product Positioning; Organizational Structure; Competitive Strategy; Knowledge Acquisition; Journalism and News Industry
Seamans, Robert, and Feng Zhu. "Repositioning and Cost-Cutting: The Impact of Competition on Platform Strategies." Strategy Science 2, no. 2 (June 2017): 83–99.
- June 2020
- Article
Frenemies in Platform Markets: Heterogeneous Profit Foci as Drivers of Compatibility Decisions
By: Ron Adner, Jianqing Chen and Feng Zhu
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
Keywords: Compatibility; Platform Competition; Profit Foci; Digital Platforms; Competition; Profit; Decision Making
Adner, Ron, Jianqing Chen, and Feng Zhu. "Frenemies in Platform Markets: Heterogeneous Profit Foci as Drivers of Compatibility Decisions." Management Science 66, no. 6 (June 2020): 2432–2451.
- Article
How to Launch Your Digital Platform: A Playbook for Strategists
By: Benjamin Edelman
The ubiquity of Internet access has caused a sharp rise in the number of businesses offering platforms that connect users for communication or commerce. Entrepreneurs are particularly drawn to these platforms because they create significant value and have modest... View Details
Keywords: Platforms; Launch; Mobilization Strategy; Two-Sided Platforms; Network Effects; Adoption; Entrepreneurship; Information Technology Industry; Advertising Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Transportation Industry; Financial Services Industry
Edelman, Benjamin. "How to Launch Your Digital Platform: A Playbook for Strategists." Harvard Business Review 93, no. 4 (April 2015): 90–97. (Reprinted in Launch a Start-Up That Lasts, Harvard Business Review OnPoint, Winter 2016.)
- July 2021
- Article
Outsourcing Tasks Online: Matching Supply and Demand on Peer-to-Peer Internet Platforms
By: Zoë Cullen and Chiara Farronato
We study the growth of online peer-to-peer markets. Using data from TaskRabbit, an expanding marketplace for domestic tasks at the time of our study, we show that growth varies considerably across cities. To disentangle the potential drivers of growth, we look... View Details
Keywords: Two-sided Market; Two-sided Platforms; Peer-to-peer Markets; Platform Strategy; Sharing Economy; Platform Growth; Internet and the Web; Digital Platforms; Strategy; Market Design; Network Effects
Cullen, Zoë, and Chiara Farronato. "Outsourcing Tasks Online: Matching Supply and Demand on Peer-to-Peer Internet Platforms." Management Science 67, no. 7 (July 2021): 3985–4003.
- October 2024
- Case
EU's Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act
By: David B. Yoffie and Sarah von Bargen
Since the early 2020s, the EU began passing regulations on digital platforms and their marketplaces. One of the first was the Digital Services Act package, consisting of the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA). These regulations were focused on... View Details
Yoffie, David B., and Sarah von Bargen. "EU's Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act." Harvard Business School Case 725-372, October 2024.
- 2024
- Working Paper
Webmunk: A New Tool for Studying Online Behavior and Digital Platforms
By: Chiara Farronato, Andrey Fradkin and Chris Karr
Understanding the behavior of users online is important for researchers, policymakers, and private companies alike. But observing online behavior and conducting experiments is difficult without direct access to the user base and software of technology companies. We... View Details
Farronato, Chiara, Andrey Fradkin, and Chris Karr. "Webmunk: A New Tool for Studying Online Behavior and Digital Platforms." NBER Working Paper Series, No. 32694, July 2024.
- January 2002 (Revised May 2002)
- Case
Digital China Holdings Limited: ERP as a Platform for Building New Capabilities
By: F. Warren McFarlan, Guoqing Chen and Kai Reimers
This case analyzes a complex ERP implementation that takes place in one of the leading companies in China. The issues are indistinguishable from those facing a U.S. organization. View Details
Keywords: Internet and the Web; Technology Adoption; Information Technology; Complexity; Problems and Challenges; China
McFarlan, F. Warren, Guoqing Chen, and Kai Reimers. "Digital China Holdings Limited: ERP as a Platform for Building New Capabilities." Harvard Business School Case 302-080, January 2002. (Revised May 2002.)