Topic outline

  • Welcome to the first lecture on Tuesday Nov 2, 10:15

    PRACTICALITIES

    - We will have lectures in classroom to foster more discussion and active participation.

    - classroom is in the Tuas building the room AS3 Saab Space (next to info)

     groups for a case study “Develop platform strategy for firm X” will be agreed in the first lecture The case study company can be selected freely or together with lecturer.

    - read these before the first lecture  

    • https://intelligentplatforms.ai/5-steps-how-ant-financial-built-a-200-billion-platform-business/
    • https://hbr.org/2018/05/how-nokia-embraced-the-emotional-side-of-strategy

    - for questions feel free to contact tero.i.ojanpera@aalto.fi


    Learning outcomes 

    The Platform Strategy course focuses on developing skills to define and formulate strategy based on platform business model, AI and human intelligence.  

    The starting point for the course is that the leading firms with a platform business model (e.g., Tesla, Airbnb, Amazon) do not define themselves in terms of traditional industry boundaries. Rather, they actively seek to transcend the boundaries and create synergistic value across industries. Also traditional companies like KONE, John Deere and Hilti and many others are executing platform based strategies. 

    The students will during the course learn to understand, apply, analyze, evaluate and create an industry-transcending strategy. Furthermore, they learn to execute platform creation from business model perspective including network effects. 

     Course Format

    The course combines interactive lectures with case discussions. 

    Each week consists of one lecture:  Tuesday 10:15-12:00

    Students will work in groups on a case study “Develop platform strategy for firm X” throughout the course. The case study company can be selected freely or together with lecturer. Group size is 2-4 persons.

    Students will prepare contribution to the case study related to weekly session theme based on pre-reading material. Assignment is to summarize the main point from the article and how could that be applied into their case firm.

    The purpose of this assignment is to help students to develop own thinking and to help translating theory into practice in addition to making sure that they understand the basic ideas in the readings.

    Schedule 

     

    Topics 

    Week 1

    Industry transcending strategy and new business models  - Introduction to intelligent platforms. How to manage three inter-dependent dynamics to transform firm’s business model: 1) creating network effects, 2) adopting AI, and 3) developing creativity and courage to leap to new domains from business model perspective

    Ant Financial Blog: https://intelligentplatforms.ai/5-steps-how-ant-financial-built-a-200-billion-platform-business/

    Alibaba and the Future of Business, Ming Zeng, Sep, 2018, Harvard Business Review 

     

    Psychological dynamics of business model transformation: Intelligent platforms challenge many of business's underlying assumptions, including ways of working that organizations have honed for years that may need to change. 

    Vuori, T O. and Huy, Q N (2018) How Nokia Embraced the Emotional Side of Strategy, Harvard Business Review (digital article), https://hbr.org/2018/05/how-nokia-embraced-the-emotional-side-of-strategy

    Week 2

    Transaction costs, friction and business expansion: simplifying the value chain from the user’s viewpoint by eliminating transaction costs and friction to create network effects

    The Best Platforms Are More than Matchmakers, Alstyne&Schrage, HBR, Aug 2016.

    Week 3

    Role of focused offering in building platforms and network effect  - techniques to identify on the most value-adding service and to define phase approach starting with focus, refining the offering and building engagement/community to drive network effects

    https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/12/how-peloton-exercise-bikes-and-streaming-gained-a-cult-following.html

    Week 4

    Business approach to APIs  - APIs role in creating platform business, how to manage APIs as products and over their life-cycle, API business models.

    https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/what-it-really-takes-to-capture-the-value-of-apis

    Week 5

    Creation of learning loops with AI – techniques to create business goals for AI,  produce relevant data, and maximize continuous learning to learn faster than competition


    Getting AI to Scale
    , HBR

    https://hbr.org/2021/05/getting-ai-to-scale

    Tesla AI: 

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ucp0TTmvqOE

    Week 6

    Transcending industry boundaries to create synergistic value across industries - how to break psychological barriers to reach creative insights and to expand offering to a new sector by leveraging a platform’s core capabilities

    Case study: Amazon history

    https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2018/10/business/amazon-history-timeline/index.html

    Blog to explain three strategies to expand your platform

    Outside-in: starting from market trends and opportunities

    Inside-out: starting from your current strengths and assets

    ‘What if we bought’: considering how you could leverage another company’s strengths