Digital Platforms (Autumn 2021)

Abstract

The course provides students with an understanding of how to build and manage digital platforms. Students will apply contemporary theories from innovation, management, and information systems journals to conceptualize digital platform solutions.  

Description

The most valuable and profitable organizations in the world are platform organizations. In this context, digital platforms play a central role as they are the technical means of private and public organizations in creating and delivering value. Digital platforms can be understood as network-promoting technology architectures that support value co-creation among interdepended stakeholders. In so doing, digital platform owners need to consider and execute strategic platform design, modularity, and third-party management to achieve their organizational goals, and thus, become successful long term. As such, this course draws on innovation, management, and information systems research to provide course participants with critical thinking abilities and an understanding of the challenges and opportunities in building and managing digital platforms in digital economies.

The course will cover:

• The strategy, innovation, and competitive dynamics of digital platforms in digital economies,

• The principles of building digital platforms,

• The strategic design and management of platform architecture and third parties under different governance rules,

• Tactics for stimulating digital platform growth

• New technology trends impacting digital platforms in various ways (e.g., distributed ledger systems),

• The challenges of platform organizations in ever-changing digital economies.

Formal prerequisites

Intended learning outcomes

After the course, the student should be able to:

• Apply key theories and concepts of digital platforms operating in digital economies
• Analyze technological trends and explain the implications for digital platforms
• Discuss and critically reflect on applied digital platform theories and findings
• Conceptualize a digital platform solution based on theoretical foundations taught in the course

Learning activities

The course will be taught through lectures, workshops, exercises, and casework. Approximately half of the course is going to support students in forming and articulating  theoretical insight to deepen their understanding of various topics. The other half will support their learning of digital platform theories and applying them to practice. 

As part of the learning, the students will carry out a digital platform case study (i.e., report). The report and the deliveries from it will form the base for the oral exam. The report will be supervised and supported by the teaching staff of the course. The course manager strives to support learning by a diversity of engaging learning activities that can lead to good results, but will demand active engagement and participation from the students.

Course literature

To be announced on course page in LearnIT.

Student Activity Budget

Estimated distribution of learning activities for the typical student

• Preparation for lectures and exercises: 30%
• Lectures: 15%
• Exercises: 10%
• Project work, supervision included: 30%
• Exam with preparation: 15%

Ordinary exam

Exam type:
D: Submission of written work with following oral, External (7-point scale)
Exam variation:
D2G: Submission for groups with following oral exam supplemented by the submission. Shared responsibility for the report.

reexam

Exam type:
D: Submission of written work with following oral, External (7-point scale)

Time and date