Siobhan O'Mahony and Rebecca Karp, Boston University
Siobhan O'Mahony and Rebecca Karp, Boston University
Competing on a Common Platform: Explaining Firm Engagement in Collectively Managed Ecosystems
Competing on a Common Platform: Explaining Firm Engagement in Collectively Managed Ecosystems
Abstract: Much research has studied how dominant firms can design and lead a single platform that complementary firms leverage. Often, control over the platform’s architecture, rules of engagement and business model are managed by a single firm. What happens when firms transition from a dominant mode of control to one that is collectively managed? With field data from the platform founder and 17 firms, we examine how these firms responded differently to the emergence of a collectively managed platform. We examine firms’ motivations for joining a common platform, and the challenges and benefits encountered. In doing so, we identify a more nuanced range of strategic responses that differ from either pure collaboration or pure competition: from competitive observation to distributed platform leadership, which prompted varying degrees of internal adaptation. Our research shows not only how platforms can be collectively managed, but also how firms guardedly engage with common technical resources in ways that both preserve and threaten their competitive advantage.
Bio: Siobhán O’Mahony: Tenured Associate Professor at the Boston University Questrom School of Business and former Chair of the Strategy and Innovation Department. Professor O’Mahony studies how technical and creative projects organize. In her research, Professor O’Mahony has examined high technology contractors, open source programmers, music producers, scientists and engineers, internet startups and corporate consortiums. She is interested in how people organize for innovation, creativity and growth without replicating the bureaucratic structures they strive to avoid. Much of her work examines how innovative projects manage the tension between maintaining open, participatory and pluralistic organizing approaches and preserving project boundaries and contributing to corporate goals. Her work has been published in the top journals in her field including Administrative Science Quarterly, Organization Science, Academy of Management Journal, Research Policy, Research in Organizational Behavior, Research in the Sociology of Organizations, Industry and Innovation, the Journal of Management and Governance among other edited volumes. Professor O’Mahony has provided expert testimony on innovation to the European Union, the National Academy of Science and Engineering, and the National Science Foundation. Her research has been mentioned in the New York Times and she has provided expertise on CNBC. She is a member of the editorial boards of Administrative Science Quarterly and the Academy of Management Journal. At Boston University, Professor O’Mahony teaches two popular electives: Design Thinking and Innovation and Organizing for Innovation. Before joining Boston University, Professor O’Mahony was a tenure track professor at the Harvard Business School and at UC Davis Graduate School of Management. She has consulted to numerous companies such as Novell, Cap Gemini, Ideo, the Cutter Consortium, McDonald Investments, Pillsbury Winthrop LLP, and the Global Business Network. Professor O’Mahony received her Ph.D. in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University, an M.P.A from the Cornell Institute of Public Affairs, and a B.S. in Industrial Labor Relations from Cornell University.
Rebecca Karp: PhD student in the Strategy and Innovation group at Boston University. Her research examines open innovation in both corporate and community settings, governance models and management of innovation within organizations, and the impact of digitization on work and employment dynamics. Rebecca completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan and her MBA at Cornell University. She has advised a variety of fortune 500 companies including, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, CitiGroup, State Street, Nestle, Ocean Spray, Yum Brands, etc. in their large scale transformations and digital strategies. She serves on the board of Symphony New Hampshire.
A buffet lunch will be available at 11:45 a.m., and the seminar will begin at 12:00 p.m.
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