Annabelle Gawer Tech Platforms

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Dr. Annabelle Gawer

Digital Economy Seminar

Imperial College London

6 July 2011

Digital Platforms: Industry Dynamics and Business Strategies


What are industry platforms?

• Industry platforms are technological building blocks (that can be

technologies, products, or services) that act as a foundation on top

of which an array of firms, organized in a set of interdependent

firms (sometimes called an industry ‘‘ecosystem’’), develop a set of

inter-related products, technologies and services (Gawer, 2009)

• Examples:

- The iPhone

- The Internet

- The Win-Tel platform for computing

- Video games

- Mobile phone Operating Systems


Platforms Examples


Platforms: not only digital ones …

• Platform dynamics have appeared in many industries:• Computers; Internet; Telecommunications; Electronic payment; Media;

Consumer electronics

• Transportation (airlines, package delivery, fuel cell-powered cars)

• Retailing (shopping malls, barcodes)

• Energy: electric power grid

• Biology: genomics, biotech

• These industries share common features:• Complex technological systems

• Fast evolution of technology

• Importance of interoperability and integration

• Require collaboration among several firms


Some of my publications on digital platforms


Books1.Gawer, A. and M.A. Cusumano (2002), Platform Leadership: How Intel, Microsoft, and Cisco Drive Industry Innovation, Harvard Business School Press. (Number of citations : 393. Number of copies sold: 9500). A Japanese translation was published in 2005.2.Gawer, A. (2009), Platforms, Markets and Innovation, A. Gawer (ed.), Cheltenham, UK, and Northampton, US: Edward Elgar.

Articles1.Gawer, A. (2010), The Organization of Technological Platforms, Research in the Sociology of Organizations 29, 287–296. 2.Tee, R. and A. Gawer (2009), Industry Architecture as a Determinant of Successful Platform Strategies: A Case Study of the I-Mode Mobile Internet Service” European Management Review 6(4), 217-232.3.Gawer, A. and M.A. Cusumano (2008), How Firms Become Platform Leaders, MIT Sloan Management Review 49 (2), 28-35. Cited by 24.4.Gawer, A. and R. Henderson (2007), Platform Owner Entry and Innovation in Complementary Markets: Evidence from Intel” Journal of Economics and Management Strategy 16(1), 1-34 (lead article). Cited by 76.5.Gawer, A. and M.A. Cusumano (2004), What Does it Take to Be a Platform Leader: Some Recent Lessons from Palm and NTT DoCoMo, Hitotsubashi Business Review 52(1), 6-20 (lead article).6.Cusumano M.A. and A. Gawer (2002), The Elements of Platform Leadership, MIT Sloan Management Review 43(3), 51-58. (A Chinese translation of this article was published in the Peking University Business Review in 2009, Vol. 2, 20-29). Cited by 74.

Book chapters1.Gawer, A. (2009), Platforms, Markets and Innovation: An Introduction, in Platforms, Markets and Innovation, A. Gawer (ed.), Cheltenham, UK, and Northampton, US: Edward Elgar, pp. 1-16.2.Gawer, A. (2009), Platform Dynamics and Strategies: From Products to Services, in Platforms, Markets and Innovation, A. Gawer (ed.), Cheltenham, UK, and Northampton, US: Edward Elgar, pp. 45-76.

A Gawer’s contribution to the study of platforms


A vibrant, emerging field

New Book : Platforms, Markets and Innovation• First book examining different facets of the platform

phenomenon, from different academic disciplines, empirics from

a variety of industries

• 24 contributors, from 19 universities, 7 countries, 3 continents

CONTENT of the Book

I. Platforms, Markets and Innovation: An Introduction Gawer

Part 1: PLATFORMS: OVERVIEW

II. The Architecture of Platforms: A Unified View Baldwin & Woodard

III. Platform Dynamics and Strategies Gawer

IV. The Role of Services in Platform Markets Suarez &.Cusumano

V. The Economics of Platform-Based Start-Ups Evans


Content of the book (ct’d)

Part 2 PLATFORMS: OPEN, CLOSED, AND GOVERNANCE ISSUESVI. Opening Platforms: How, When and Why? Eisenmann, Parker, Van Alstyne

VII. Platforms Rules: Multi-Sided Platforms as Regulators Boudreau, Hagiu

VIII. Protecting or Diffusing a Technology Platform: Schilling

IX. Open Platform Development and the Commercial Internet Greenstein

Part 3 PLATFORMS: MANAGEMENT, DESIGN, AND KNOWLEDGE ISSUESX. Outsourcing of Tasks and Outsourcing of Assets: Evidence from Automotive Supplier Parks in Brazil

Sako

XI. Platforms for the Design of Platforms Le Masson , Weil, Hatchuel,

XII. Design Rules for Platform Leaders Brusoni , Prencipe

XIII. Detecting Errors Early: Problem-Solving in Product Platform Projects

Yakob, Tell

XIV. The Effect of Technological Platforms on the International Division of Labor

Tatsumoto, Ogawa , Fujimoto

Annabelle Gawer Tech Platforms

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