Optimization and visualization of strategies for platforms, complements, and services

Abstract

This thesis probes the causal elements of product platform strategies and the effects of platform strategy on a firm. Platform strategies may be driven by internal or external forces, and the lifecycle of a firm and of a platform strategy evolve over time in response to both the needs of the firm and the changes in the external environment. This external environment may consist of a "platform ecology," in which the platform strategies of firms affect one another. These effects may be positive, buoying revenues, or negative, eliminating markets and appropriating value. The thesis assumes that a company whose strategy is to produce complements or services for another firm's platform may be said to have a platform strategy, and further assumes that a company with a modular platform strategy built primarily for its own internal use may also be said to have a platform strategy. Finally, this thesis will demonstrate example visualization techniques that make the nature of such platform strategies more apparent. This thesis asks and tries to answer a few key questions: ** What comprises the elements of a platform strategy? ** What kinds of companies adopt these strategies? ** What circumstances drive adoption? ** What outcomes can be expected? ** What happens to such a strategy over time? The thesis asserts and attempts to prove these hypotheses: ** Platform Strategies of one firm can influence those of many other firms, by direct effect on the other firms, or by simple economic benefit example. ** Return on Investment (ROI) is influenced by these strategies. ** Beyond ROI and thus Profit fluctuations, company survival, in an evolutionary Darwinian sense, may depend on these strategic choices.