Platform Leadership

국민대학교 비즈니스IT전문대학원 차상민 (skykids@skykids.kr)
Platform Leadership
• Cusumano, M. A. “Technology Strategy and
Management: The Puzzle of Apple”
• Gawer, A. and Cusumano, M. A. “How Companies
Become Platform Leaders”
2015-01-30 1 / 20세미나

Contents
I. Web Science
II. The Puzzle of Apple
III. Platform Leaders
2015-01-30 2 / 20세미나

I. Web Science
2015-01-30 3 / 20세미나

1. Web Science
 James Hendler et al., “Web Science: An Interdisciplinary Approach
to Understanding the Web”, Communications of the ACM, July
2008, Vol. 51, No. 7, pp.60-69.
 Web을 연구 목적으로 하는 학제간 접근
 웹을 연구 목적으로 하고, 웹을 통해 급격히 변화해온 사회와 기술
변화 전반에 대한 문제를 다루는 과학
 Web의 중요성과 영향력을 인식할 필요성
 World Wide Web
 Berners-Lee, T. “Information Management: A Proposal”, March
1989.
 Hypertext(Link), HTML
 Browser
2015-01-30 4 / 20세미나

 World Wide Web
 사회적 상호작용(Social Interactions)
 Social Machine
 사용자도 컴퓨터 기술을 이용하여 Social System 제작 가능
 Tags: Social Context
 Business 차원의 Web에 대한 연구가 필요
 Platform Leadership
 GeoPlanet Data, Placemaker(Yahoo) vs Google Maps Data API
 Facebook connect vs Google Friend Connect
 Apple’s Macintosh, iPod, iPhone, iTunes and App Store
 Knowledge on the Web
 Reliability of the knowledge
 Vulnerability of using the knowledge
1. Web Science
2015-01-30 5 / 20세미나

II. The Puzzle of Apple
2015-01-30 6 / 20세미나

1. Apple, Inc. and It’s products
 Cusumano, M., “Technology Strategy and Management: The
Puzzle of Apple”, Communications of ACM, September 2008, Vol.
51, No. 9, pp. 22-24.
 Apple, Inc.
 Founded Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in 1976.
 Apple products(“truly great”)
 Macintosh(1984): Graphic User Interface
 PowerBook(1991): Design standard for laptops
 iMac(1998): All-in-one designer PC
 iPod(2001) and iPhone(2007): MP3 Player and Trendsetter
 iTunes(2003): Media service and App Store
 Mac OS X: Operating System
2015-01-30 7 / 20세미나

2. Steve Jobs and Archrival
 Steve Jobs
 Co-founder of Apple, Inc.
 Absent from the company during 1985-1997
 Returned with his other company acquisition
 He created the design culture.
 He hired and supervised the people most responsible.
 His archrival, Bill Gates
 Co-founder of Microsoft.
 Microsoft products(“good enough”)
 MS-DOS
 Windows series
 Office series
 No. 1 billionaire
2015-01-30 8 / 20세미나

3. What is Platform?
 Definition
 A foundation product or key technology in a system like the PC or
a Web-enabled cell phone
 It should have relatively open technical interfaces and easy
licensing terms.
 Complementary products and services
 External innovations create an ecosystem around the platform.
 Network externalities: The more external firms in the network, the
more valuable the platform becomes.
 This dynamic should cause more users to adopt the platform,
more complementors to enter the ecosystem, ….
 To tend to evolve into “winner takes all” or “winner takes most”
businesses
2015-01-30 9 / 20세미나

4. Platform Battle Grounds
Macintosh(Apple) IBM-compatible(IBM)
Monopolized Strategy Opened
One(Apple) Producer Many
High Price Low
Low Diffusion High
Few percentage Status Overwhelming Standard
Betamax(Sony) VHS(JVC)
Refuse Revision Incorporate
Licensing Broadly
Marketing Aggresively
Disappeared Status Standard
2015-01-30 10 / 20세미나

5. The iPod
 iPod features
 First hard drive MP3 Player(iPod Classic)
 Unique “click wheel” interface
 New touchscreen
 Attracted complementary hardware
 Done better in the market
 A closed system that worked only with the Macintosh and iTunes
music warehouse initially.
 Opening up the iPod software to play some other music formats
 Using proprietary digital rights management(DRM)
 Introducing an iPod in 2002 compatible with Windows and then a
Windows version of iTunes in 2003
2015-01-30 11 / 20세미나

6. The iPhone
 iPhone features
 A cell phone
 Digital media player
 Web-enabled handheld computer
 A remarkable user interface by touch and virtual keyboard
 Done better in the market
 Disabled to run applications not built by Apple originally
 Disabled to operate on cell phone networks not approved
 Hackers found the way to unlock the phone.
 A black market pressure persuaded Apple to open iPod.
 Enabled to connect to corporate email servers
 Enabled to use it on any service network
2015-01-30 12 / 20세미나

7. Great Platform or Great Product
 “Great platforms” first and “great products” second
 Makes the products are used most.
 Fleeting nature
 Apple won the battle for digital media players
 But iPhone is likely to disappear in favor of smartphones.
 iPhone still trails smartphones by a wide margin.
 Platform leader
 Must work with industry players
 Must be willing to make technical and design compromises
 Pursued product and platform leadership simultaneously
2015-01-30 13 / 20세미나

III.Platform Leaders
2015-01-30 14 / 20세미나

1. Ecosystem and Platform-leader wannabes
 Gawer, A. and Cusumano, M. A., “How Companies Become
Platform Leaders”, MITSloan Management Review, Winter 2008,
Vol. 49, No. 2, pp.28-35.
 “Ecosystem” of innovation
 Platform leader and companies supplying complements
 As more users adopt the platform and its complements, the value
of their innovations are greatly increased.
 “Platform-leader wannabes” problems
 Their strategies fail to tackle adequately both the technology and
business.
 “Coring”
 “Tipping”
2015-01-30 15 / 20세미나

2. Platform vs. Product
 Product
 largely proprietary and under one company’s control
 Platform
 a foundation technology or service that is essential for a broader,
interdependent ecosystem of businesses
 requires complementary innovations to be useful, and vice versa
 no longer under the full control of the originator, even though it
may contain certain proprietary elements
 Microsoft(Example)
 Apple(Example)
2015-01-30 16 / 20세미나

3. “Coring”
 Definition
 The set of activities a company can use to identify or design an
element
 And make this element fundamental to a technological system as
well as to a market
 How to Create a New Industry Platform
 Google: Coring in Internet Search
 Qualcomm: Coring in Wireless Technology
 EMC’s WideSky: Coring Challenges
2015-01-30 17 / 20세미나

4. “Tipping”
 Definition
 the set of activities or strategic moves that companies can use to
shape market dynamics
 And win a platform war when at least two platform candidates
compete
 How to Win Platform Battles By Building Market
Momentum
 High-definition media storage
 HD-DVD(Toshiba) vs. Blu-ray Disc(Sony)
 Betamax(Sony) vs. VHS(JVC)
 Windows(Microsoft) vs. Macintosh(Apple)
2015-01-30 18 / 20세미나

5. Platform Leadership and Company Size
 Linux: Tipping the Market for Web Server Operating
Systems
 Tipping in the Internet Browser Market
 Microsoft Internet Explorer vs. Netscape Navigator
 Platform Leadership and Company Size
 Coring is a possible option for any company because technology
and architectural leadership do not directly depend on the size of
the company.
 Platform Leader requires a compelling vision of the future as well
as the ability to create a vibrant ecosystem
2015-01-30 19 / 20세미나

Fine. 
2015-01-30 20 / 20세미나

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