New horizons or a strategic mirage? Artist-led-distribution versus alliance strategy in the video game industry

In this paper we contribute to the debate between researchers who argue that the emergence of online distribution allows content producers in the creative industries to bypass powerful publishers and distributors, and other researchers who argue that this strategy cannot succeed without the complementary assets that these intermediaries provide. We use a case study of the Dutch Video Game Developer (DVGD) bringing to market an identical game using two different but comparable distribution channels as a quasi-experiment: in the first release DVGD used online distribution to reach consumers directly, whereas in the second it used an alliance with an established video game publisher. We find that, while the alliance required DVGD to share with the publisher a substantial fraction of the value appropriated by the game, the alliance strategy resulted in greater absolute financial performance and relative market performance compared to the self-publishing strategy. We conclude that the differences in performance can be traced back to specialized complementary assets required for successful commercialization

Digital supply chain management in the videogames industry: a systematic literature review

As industries mature, they rely more heavily on supply chain management (SCM) to ensure effective operations leading to greater levels of organisational performance. SCM has been widely covered in many industrial areas and, in line with other burgeoning sectors such as Tourism, an industry focus provides the opportunity to look in-depth at the context-based factors that affect SCM. Developments in digital distribution and rapid technological innovations have resulted in an increased focus on Digital Supply Chains (DSCs), which bring about significant changes to how consumers, customers, suppliers, and manufacturers interact, affecting supply chain design and processes. Through a systematic review of the Videogames Industry Supply Chain Management literature, which serves as a pertinent contextual example of a DSC, we look at how supply chains are affected by structural, market and technological change, such as increased platformisation, disintermediation and the proliferation of digital distribution. We distil these findings into a new research agenda, which identifies themes in line with extant DSC research, provides a series of relevant practice recommendations and identifies opportunities for future research

Innovative Mass Customization in the Fashion Industry

Mass customization (MC) is a popular strategy in the fashion industry. MCaims at satisfying individual customer’s needs with customized products and at acost near that of mass production. In this chapter, we first conduct acomprehensive literature review on MC in the fashion industry. We then propose ascheme to classify the MC practices as traditional and innovative. By exploringmany real world cases, we compare and develop insights on the applications ofdifferent kinds of MC in the fashion industry. Managerial recommendations aregenerated. We believe that this chapter can lay a good foundation for futurestudies on MC.Institute of Textiles and Clothin

Agent-based simulation of innovation diffusion: A review

Kiesling E, Günther M, Stummer C, Wakolbinger LM. Agent-based simulation of innovation diffusion: A review. Central European Journal of Operations Research. 2012;20(2):183-230