Platforms, Markets and Innovation: An Introduction

The emergence of platforms, whether used inside firms, across supply chains, or as building blocks that act as engines of innovation and redefine industrial architectures, is a novel phenomenon affecting most industries today, from products to services. This book, the first of its kind dedicated to the emerging field of platform research, presents leading-edge contributions from top international scholars from strategy, economics, innovation, organizations and knowledge management. This book represents a milestone for the vibrant field of platform research. It is the outcome of an ambitious international collaboration, regrouping and making connections between the research work of 24 scholars, affiliated with 19 universities, in seven countries over four continents. The novel insights assembled in the 14 chapters of this volume constitute a fundamental step towards an empirically based, nuanced understanding of the nature of platforms and the implications they hold for the evolution of industrial innovation. But what exactly are platforms? Why should we care about them? And, why do we need a book about them

Institutional Work as Logics Shift: The case of Intel's Transformation to Platform Leader

In this article, we explore some of the forms of institutional work that organizations perform as they participate externally in the processes that drive change in the institutional logic that characterizes their field, and as they respond internally to the shift as it occurs. More specifically, we present the results of an in-depth case study of Intel Corporation, a firm that was implicated in a fundamental shift in the institutional logic of its field in the late 1980s and 1990s as the field moved from a traditional supply chain logic dominated by computer assemblers to a new platform logic following very different organizing principles. Through the qualitative analysis of 72 interviews with Intel employees, complemented by extensive archival data from 1980 to 2000, we identify two forms of institutional work that Intel performed externally – external practice work and legitimacy work – and two forms of work that they carried out internally – internal practice work and identity work – as the organization worked to simultaneously influence the shift in logic that was occurring and to deal with the ramifications of the shift

The Rise of the Platform Enterprise: A Global Survey

The new CGE report, The Rise of the Platform Enterprise: A Global Survey, presents the results of a year-long research project in which leading scholars and experts from Africa, China, Europe, India and the U.S. collaborated to conduct the first comprehensive survey of major public and privately owned platform companies.Through highly efficient matching of different users and/or harnessing large ecosystems of complementary technologies products or services, companies with platform business models have grown dramatically in size and scale over the past decade. The research identified 176 platform companies worldwide with a market valuation of US$1 billion or more. Some platform companies have become household names, such as Amazon, Alibaba or Uber, but there are many others of significant size and scale that hail from different areas of the world that are less known

Innovation policy within private collectives: Evidence on 3GPP׳s regulation mechanisms to facilitate collective innovation

This article provides insights on how to manage collective innovation in the digital economy, an innovation regime which is riddled with complex regulatory challenges and increasing litigation over intellectual property rights. Private collective organizations face two main challenges: (1) to promote collective innovation while preserving the private interests of the firms within the collective, and (2) to ensure that collective innovation does not weaken healthy competition. Through a case study of the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), an exemplary private collective federation of organizations composed of standardization bodies, industry consortia and technology producers, we identify organizational solutions to these challenges. We find that a combination of specific IP rights instruments is key to manage these trade-offs. We also find that the combined policies of essential patenting, FRAND, and maximum royalty rate help overcome the specific challenges associated with collective innovation within competitive contexts. Finally we discuss the implications of our findings for managers and for policy. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd

Technological agglomeration and the emergence of clusters and networks in nanotechnology

Research and development at the nanoscale requires a large degree of integration, from convergence of research disciplines in new fields of enquiry to new linkages between start-ups, regional actors and research facilities. Based on the analysis of two clusters in nanotechnologies (MESA+ (Twente) and other centres in The Netherlands and Minatec in Grenoble in France), the paper discusses the phenomenon of technological agglomeration: co-located scientific and technological fields associated to coordinated technology platforms to some extent actively shaped by institutional entrepreneurs. Such co-location and coordination are probably a prerequisite for the emergence of strong nanocluster

Uncovering blindspots in the policy debate on platform power:Final report

This report maps different sources and types of power in the platform economy by bringing together existing insights from various disciplines such as law, economics, political science and business strategy. The various strands of research are connected with current policy discussions on how to design and implement platform regulation. The objective is to uncover elements of platform power that deserve more attention, both in relation to the application of current legal regimes and with regard to the development of future regulatory frameworks. The control exercised by platforms can no longer be adequately captured by merely looking at economic characteristics (such as network effects, and economies of scale and scope) and the existing notion of ‘market power’. The power held by platforms goes beyond control over markets and also directly impacts businesses, consumers and our society at large. While current policy debates focus mainly on concerns relating to the control held by platforms over their business users, attention also needs be paid to the extent of control exercised over consumers and citizens. The ability of platforms to influence consumer behaviour is a source of power that deserves better understanding. In addition, more awareness needs to be created about the societal and infrastructural aspects of platform power. The COVID-19 crisis has shed new light on our dependence on platforms and digital technologies in spheres of key public consideration, such as healthcare and education. Digital platforms are also increasingly acting as gatekeepers of public interests, including through their ability to influence democracy through their control over how human rights and freedoms can be exercised via their services. As the impact of the platform economy on vital public interests like innovation, healthcare and democracy keeps expanding, these are decisive moments for establishing the priorities of EU policy and regulation

Complementary Products and Modular Innovation in Internet Telephony

Presentation at ITC semiannual meeting, Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, Bristol, UK, June 12-13, 199

What Managers Need to Know About Platforms

A new and powerful way to compete has taken shape in our business landscape: Platform competition Whether we are talking about Google, Apple’s iPhone, iTunes and iPad, or Facebook, platforms seem to have taken our business landscape by storm. Firms that provide these platforms are able to orchestrate and take advantage of innovation coming from myriads of other firms that operate in coalitions sometimes called innovative business ecosystems. This article aims to present succinctly the essential ideas that managers need to understand about platforms, whether they are attempting to pursue a platform strategy or defending themselves against a platform attacke