Platform leadership: What's new?
Platform leadership, the process by which base technologies are developed and on which innovations created by many entrepreneurs can be based, may be characteristic of the knowledge economy. But it isn't new, at least to respondents to this column.
Questions raised by respondents are, however, as interesting as the phenomenon described by Annabelle Gawer and Michael Cusumano in their book, Platform Leadership. They include: Did platform leaders set out to create vehicles by which they might control the direction and pace of the development of new ideas for others (Jeffery Seow)? To what extent does platform leadership help or hinder the development of such ideas? Do our anti-trust laws adequately address the issue of platform leaders and their behaviors?
| Platform leadership requires ingenuity, a strong customer franchise, a vision of the future, and substantial resources. |
| — James Heskett |
C. J. Cullinane adds to this list of questions: Are "open" platforms, such as that for the IBM PC, more supportive of innovation than "closed" platforms, such as Apple's Mac? And does the "intent" of the platform leader have to be established in order to determine whether the practice results in "collusion and monopoly?"
In fact, does platform leadership have to be confined to those firms developing technology? Can it just as well be established by marketers who serve as traffic cops for the various new products marketed under the same brand? In one recent case, Procter & Gamble purchased a company producing a low-cost, mass-produced disposable electric rotary toothbrush to be marketed under its famous Crest brand umbrella. As it turns out, its founders developed the product and company with the target at the outset of an eventual sale to Procter & Gamble.
Platform leadership requires ingenuity, a strong customer franchise, a vision of the future, and substantial resources. It is not for everyone. But is it a goal that more and more organizations should strive for? Is it a phenomenon that increasingly large numbers of entrepreneurs can exploit through the development of products and services specifically for inclusion in platforms, whether they are technological or marketing in nature? And do increasingly powerful platforms represent opportunities or threats to competition? What do you think?