Platform businesses have transformed nearly every sector of the global economy by creating ecosystems that facilitate interactions among multiple groups of participants rather than simply producing and selling products. Companies such as digital marketplaces, payment networks, software ecosystems, cloud platforms, logistics networks, media platforms, and business-to-business exchanges have demonstrated that long-term competitive advantage increasingly depends on orchestrating networks rather than owning every asset in the value chain. Unlike traditional linear businesses, platform organizations must simultaneously manage users, producers, partners, developers, advertisers, suppliers, regulators, and complementary service providers while maintaining healthy ecosystem dynamics.
This advanced course provides a practical, executive-oriented study of platform strategy and network economics. Rather than emphasizing abstract economic theory, students will examine how executives build, scale, govern, monetize, defend, and continuously evolve platform businesses in highly competitive markets. Students will learn how network effects influence growth, how ecosystem participants create mutual value, how pricing decisions affect adoption, how governance shapes trust, and how platforms sustain competitive advantages through intelligent ecosystem management.
Throughout the course, emphasis is placed on practical decision-making used by technology companies, financial services firms, healthcare platforms, logistics providers, industrial marketplaces, software-as-a-service businesses, digital media companies, e-commerce organizations, mobility platforms, business-to-business exchanges, and enterprise software ecosystems. Students will develop advanced strategic capabilities required to design, manage, and scale platform businesses that generate durable network advantages and sustainable long-term enterprise value.
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Course Objectives
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
• Understand platform business models and the economics of multi-sided markets.
• Evaluate direct and indirect network effects across different industries.
• Design platform strategies that encourage ecosystem growth and participant engagement.
• Develop monetization strategies appropriate for platform-based businesses.
• Analyze platform governance, trust, and ecosystem management.
• Evaluate platform competition, winner-take-most dynamics, and market positioning.
• Design platform expansion and scaling strategies across domestic and international markets.
• Measure platform performance using operational, financial, and ecosystem metrics.
• Apply ethical, regulatory, and governance principles to platform businesses.
• Integrate platform strategy into long-term corporate growth and competitive advantage.
