Essays on IT-enabled platforms and users

Abstract

My study addresses issues that current information technology- (IT-)enabled platforms are facing with respect to dealing with their users. Significant development in IT has recently boosted the advent of platforms established on various business models. Most importantly, the availability of agile information processing allows the platforms to invite a substantial number of users, which widens their opportunities in terms of competing with incumbent market players. Since such platforms’ role basically lies on providing venue for users’ interacting each other, their success can be derived from appropriate understanding and treatment of the users. In this regard, as a researcher exploring interdisciplinary issues among IT and business, it is imperative to investigate strategies or approaches for resolving the issues. To explore the issues comprehensively, I identify an underlying framework (i.e., sets of key broad approaches focusing on users) that extant platforms frequently take for value creation as depicted in following Figure: (1) analysis, (2) acquisition, (3) retention. These approaches and their classification does not serve a very new perspective, but each needs to be revisited in the context of recent noticeable development in the IT-enabled platforms.