Publications

SSRN

Research Summary

Overview

By: Feng Zhu

Professor Zhu’s research focuses on the design of platform business models and its impact on platform performance. Platforms have become central to our economy. A platform is a product or service that enables two or more customer groups to interact. For example,... View Details

September 2013
Case

Advanced Leadership Pathways: Laurent Adamowicz and Bon'App

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Juliane Calingo Schwetz and Patricia Bissett Higgins

After a successful career as Chairman and CEO of Paris-based luxury food company Fauchon, Laurent Adamowicz sought to reduce obesity and improve health outcomes. Adamowicz created a mobile application to provide consumers with more accessible and interpretable... View Details

31 Jan 2023
Cold Call Podcast

Addressing Racial Discrimination on Airbnb

Keywords: Web Services

2008
Working Paper

The Architecture of Platforms: A Unified View

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin and C. Jason Woodard

The central role of "platform" products and services in mediating the activities of disaggregated "clusters" or "ecosystems" of firms has been widely recognized. But platforms and the systems in which they are embedded are very diverse. In particular, platforms may... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Industry Clusters; Infrastructure; Information Infrastructure; Digital Platforms

10 Oct 2008
Working Paper Summaries

The Architecture of Platforms: A Unified View

Keywords: by Carliss Y. Baldwin & C. Jason Woodard

25 Apr 2023
Op-Ed

How SHEIN and Temu Conquered Fast Fashion—and Forged a New Business Model

the world. But SHEIN is much more than an online marketer for these factories. What SHEIN contributes to make the platform hum is remarkable sensitivity to the fashion tastes of its consumers. It monitors what trendsetters wear on social... View Details

Keywords: by John Deighton; Fashion; Retail; Consumer Products

21 Oct 2024
Research & Ideas

What Happens in Vegas Could Shape the Metaverse

company would be more than likes, comments, and shares, he said, and Meta would develop the community on top of the Oculus platform it bought for $2 billion in 2014. The Facebook-Meta name change came a year-and-a-half into the COVID-19... View Details

Keywords: by Scott Nover; Computer; Information Technology

2017
Working Paper

Explaining the Vertical-to-Horizontal Transition in the Computer Industry

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

This paper seeks to explain the technological forces that led to the rise of vertically integrated corporations in the late 19th century and the opposing forces that led to a vertical-to-horizontal transition in the computer industry 100 years later. I first model the... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Design; Business History; Vertical Integration; Horizontal Integration; Digital Platforms; Computer Industry

2009
Working Paper

Applying the Care Delivery Value Chain: HIV/AIDS Care in Resource Poor Settings

By: Joseph Rhatigan, Sachin H Jain, Joia S. Mukherjee and Michael E. Porter

The care delivery value chain is a framework that can help conceptualize the organization and structure of care delivery for medical conditions. We apply this framework to HIV/AIDS care in resource-limited settings. Several conclusions arise than can help inform... View Details

Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain; Framework; Health Care and Treatment; Health Disorders; Service Delivery

26 Sep 2023
Book

Digital Strategy: A Handbook for Managing a Moving Target

to the new digital context. ” Enthusiasts and advocates of the digital revolution would submit that digital transformation changes everything, from product design to how value is built and captured in the market. In some cases,... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Information Technology; Technology

Research Summary

Overview

By: Isamar Troncoso

Professor Troncoso's research explores problems related to digital marketplaces and AI applications in marketing, and combines toolkits from econometrics, causal inference, and machine learning. She has studied how different platform design choices can lead to... View Details

April 2012 (Revised October 2013)
Case

eBay, Inc. and Amazon.com (A)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Anant Thaker

This case has been designed to explore strategic interactions among organizations with different business models. The case considers how a competitor successfully challenged the incumbent in a platform market defined by strong network effects and high switching costs.... View Details

25 Jan 2016
Working Paper Summaries

Racial Discrimination in the Sharing Economy: Evidence from a Field Experiment

Keywords: by Benjamin G. Edelman, Michael Luca & Daniel Svirsky; Tourism; Travel; Technology

December 2023
Case

TikTok: The Algorithm Will See You Now

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Shweta Bagai

In a world where attention is a scarce commodity, this case explores the meteoric rise of TikTok—an app that transformed from a niche platform for teens into the most visited domain by 2021—surpassing even Google. Its algorithm was a sophisticated mechanism for... View Details

Keywords: Social Media; Applications and Software; Disruptive Innovation; Business and Government Relations; International Relations; Cybersecurity; Culture; Technology Industry; China; United States; India

August 2019
Case

Preserving Trust at Care.com (A)

By: Krishna G. Palepu and Julia Kelley

Care.com was an online platform designed to match caregivers with individuals seeking care for themselves, others, and pets, through job postings, caregiver profiles, and directories of local day care centers. In March 2019, the Wall Street Journal had just published a... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Corporate Governance; Digital Platforms; Market Design; Emerging Markets; Trust; Technology Industry; United States

March 2006
Case

Bringing OTC back to the Exchange: Euronext.liffe's launch of ABC

Euronex.liffe, a derivatives trading exchange, launches matching, clearing, and confirmation services for the over-the-counter market. This combination of services creates a new platform for a market that potentially cannibalizes its current exchange-based services. Is... View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; Digital Platforms; Consolidation; Financial Markets; Network Effects

July 2010 (Revised September 2012)
Case

Public Architecture

By: Lakshmi Ramarajan, Christopher Marquis and Bobbi Thomason

Public Architecture is a non-profit architecture company dedicated to creating social and professional change through design for the public good. Public has focused on three strategies to create change: 1) promoting the design community's commitment to pro bono work,... View Details

Keywords: Design; Innovation and Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Nonprofit Organizations; Business Strategy; Integration