Over the past two decades, some of the most profitable and successful firms are those that have adopted a digital platform model—a strategy whereby the company allows two or more disparate groups to interact over a platform to co-create value; for example, website developers and users on Akamai, recruiters and employees on LinkedIn, and drivers and customers on Uber. In this two-day program, participants eager to develop or launch a digital platform approach will learn why and how their business strategies may need to be revised to be successful.
Platform Strategy: Building and Thriving in a Vibrant Ecosystem
Certificate Track:
Strategy and Innovation
Location:
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Tuition:
$3,900 (excluding accommodations)
Program Days (for ACE Credit) 2
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In 2018, eight of the top ten global brands (according to Brandz) were platform-orientated companies —companies that created and now dominate arenas in which buyers, sellers, and a variety of third parties are connected in real time. In today’s networked age, the cloud, social media, and mobile devices are fueling this platform competition, and more and more companies want in. However, many companies do not succeed in becoming platform leaders because their technology and/or business strategies fall short.
While many platform strategies are well known (e.g. Apple’s iTunes), there are other less-heralded platforms that are exploring new ways to create and capture value. These include: dynamic pricing, usage fees, highly targeted product and service offerings, inbound marketing, and network effects.
Key questions the faculty explores include:
Through case studies and Q&A, experienced managers will emerge with insights into how they can refresh their company’s strategic approach and participate profitably in the multi-sided marketplaces of the future.
By the end of this two-day course, participants should be able to:
This course is intended for leaders of:
Some comments from the students in the MBA course on which this program is based:
“Great course, great professors! Very good learning experience. Thanks.”
“Catherine’s enthusiasm for the subject was contagious. The subject was taught in a very engaging manner.”
“The course content is excellent and may just transform the way you currently execute your organization’s product development strategy.”
Pierre Azoulay is the International Programs Professor of Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management, and a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research.
His current research focuses on empirical studies of the supply of biomedical innovators, particularly at the interface of academia and the biopharmaceutical industry. He also is interested in the topic of academic entrepreneurship, having recently concluded a major study of the antecedents and consequences of academic patenting. In the past, he has investigated the impact of superstar researchers on the research productivity of their colleagues, and the outsourcing strategies of pharmaceutical firms, in particular the role played by contract research organizations in the clinical trials process.
At MIT Sloan, he teaches courses on competitive strategy and innovation strategy to the EMBA students and Sloan Fellows, as well as a PhD class on the economics of ideas, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
He holds a Diplôme d’Études Supérieures de Gestion from the Institut National des Télécommunications, an MA from Michigan State University, and a PhD in management from MIT.
Catherine Tucker is the Sloan Distinguished Professor of Management and Professor of Marketing at MIT Sloan. She is also Chair of the MIT Sloan PhD Program.
Her research interests lie in how technology allows firms to use digital data to improve their operations and marketing, and in the challenges this poses for regulations designed to promote innovation. She has particular expertise in online advertising, digital health, social media, and electronic privacy. Generally, most of her research lies in the interface between marketing, economics, and law.
She has received an NSF CAREER Award for her work on digital privacy, the Erin Anderson Award for Emerging Marketing Scholar and Mentor, the Paul E. Green Award for contributions to the practice of Marketing Research and a Garfield Award for her work on electronic medical records.
Tucker is associate editor at Management Science and a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. She teaches MIT Sloan's course on Pricing and the EMBA course "Marketing Management for the Senior Executive." She has received the Jamieson Prize for Excellence in Teaching as well as being voted "Teacher of the Year" at MIT Sloan.
She holds a PhD in economics from Stanford University, and a BA from the University of Oxford.
Sample Schedule—Subject to Change
| DAY 1 SAMPLE | |
| 7:45 AM - 8:30 AM | Registration and Continental Breakfast |
| 8:30 AM - 12:15 PM | What is a Platform?/Kickstarting a Platform |
| 12:15 PM - 1:15 PM | Networking Lunch |
| 1:15 PM - 5:00 PM | Extracting Value from Platforms |
| 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM | Networking Reception |
| DAY 2 SAMPLE | |
| 7:45 AM - 8:30 AM | Continental Breakfast |
| 8:30 AM - 12:00 PM | Coring and Tipping a Platform/Building a Platform Ecosystem |
| 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM | Networking Lunch |
| 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM | Design, Staging and Governance of Technology/The Perils of “Platform Envy” |
The program will cover these cases and important examples of platform strategy:
This research paper by Catherine Tucker and Avi Goldfarb, published in the Journal of Economic Literature, examines whether and how digital technology changes economic activity.
VIEWThe application of a new citation metric prompts a reassessment of the relationship between the size of scientific teams and research impact, and calls into question the trend to emphasize ‘big team’ science.
VIEWPlatforms are what our friend Pierre Azoulay, an economist at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, calls “the internet of things your mom won’t do for you anymore.”
VIEWThe multisided platform business model is getting a lot of attention these days, thanks to the successes of Facebook, eBay and Airbnb. Here’s a look at what it takes to set up a platform where many constituencies can do business.
VIEWMultisided platforms such as eBay and Facebook create value by enabling interactions between two or more customer groups. But building and managing a winning platform isnt easy.
VIEWThere’s probably never been a better time for platform businesses. But, warn two experienced economists, that doesn’t make them easy to launch successfully.
VIEWMichael Cusumano is the Sloan Management Review Distinguished Professor of Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management, with a joint appointment in the MIT Engineering Systems Division.
VIEWWhat does it take to build a platform where many constituencies can do business?
VIEWUnder the right circumstances, companies of any size can grow to become platform leaders. And particular business and technology decisions can help platform-leader wannabes achieve their goals.
VIEWMany business leaders and marketers are wondering how a resurgence of consumers attempting to regain their privacy will affect innovation in the global economy. While there is a clear relationship between innovations that rely on consumer data and the protection of consumer privacy, there may be compromises to consider that are amenable to both the innovator and the consumer.
VIEWJulian W: This was a great program and answered many of the questions I had about building and growing a platform.
Ndukwe A: The program was a classic for Platform strategy development and management.
Bruno M: Excelent! It is important to have digital platform concepts and strategy very clear at this moment. This program was really great and professors Catherine and Pierre are awesome!
Mark A: An excellent program that provided me with the framework and insights I required to assist guide business through its system architecture strategy.
Kshitij G: The content and cases explain - though there is a grey zone - what makes a product a platform and how the platform can succeed at being useful, growing and competing. The variety of examples and discussions from various industries is good to understand which nuances might work and how they might change over time as the industries evolve.
Ricardo Javier De Las Heras G: Key concepts could have been illustrated with more recent Platforms, such as “We Chat” from China or “Jio” from India. In many situations “Dropbox” was repeatedly used.
Kabir A: Absolutely key for executives and specialist functional team leaders wanting to make a significant and measurable impactful difference in their operational deliverables.
Laura M: Amazing dive into the platform world and the opportunities and threats one might encounter
Hamilton M: Very useful insights to understand what it stakes to build a platform strategy leading to a successful platform economy.
Carmen C: This program is a must if you are seeking to keep up in today’s network age! Nowadays the most successful businesses are often platforms. If we don’t understand the bases and basic concepts of a platform then we can be left behind. Pierre delivers all his expertise in a very engaging and simple manner. The only thing that I would suggest is to use newer case studies. Besides that, the program was perfect!
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The formulation of a platform strategy requires somewhat distinct tools to help platform entrepreneurs and managers tackle the challenges of value creation and value capture.
"Great class. Enjoyed every bit of it. The platform framework is excellent and forces managers to ask the right questions in order to develop a good business model." -- Ashwin M.
Pierre Azoulay on Platform Strategy: Building and Thriving in a Vibrant Ecosystem.
Participant, Christian Abera Degu shares his experience at Platform Strategy: Building and Thriving in a Vibrant Ecosystem.
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