NDLI: Platform technologies and network goods: insights on product launch and management

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Bhargava, Hemant K.
Copyright Year	2014
Abstract	Entrepreneurs of technology platforms and network goods face distinctive challenges in managing customer adoption, and in trading off growth and profitability. The firm has several levers of control including managing product design and the intensity of network effects, managing the timing of product announcement versus actual product release, selecting the target market for initial product launch, and whether to sell a single version or an expanded product line. Product line expansion is especially useful under network effects. A freemium approach can help the firm manage both growth (via the free product) and profitability (via the premium higher-priced version). However, expanding the product line carries substantial fixed costs (e.g., marketing cost, cost of additional plant, managing multiple sets of inventory, increased distribution cost). Firms are deterred from incurring these fixed costs when there is uncertainty about product success. Such uncertainty is particularly relevant for multi-sided networks—where the value from joining one network (e.g., users) depends on the size of the other side (e.g., developers)—because potential participants on each side may be uncertain about participation on the other side. Despite uncertainty, product line expansion can be attractive for both startups and established firms. Established firms face lower uncertainty about developer participation, and should expand when fixed costs of expansion are low (and do so early in the product’s life cycle). In contrast, startup firms face greater uncertainty in securing participation from third-party developers, and are more likely to benefit from a “wait and see” or deferred expansion strategy.
Starting Page	199
Ending Page	209
Page Count	11
File Format	PDF
ISSN	1385951X
Journal	Information Technology and Management
Volume Number	15
Issue Number	3
e-ISSN	15737667
Language	English
Publisher	Springer US
Publisher Date	2014-06-11
Publisher Place	Boston
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Product launch Network effects Two-sided markets Versioning Product design Revenue model Business Information Systems Data Structures, Cryptology and Information Theory Operations Research/Decision Theory Computer Communication Networks Business/Management Science
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Business, Management and Accounting Information Systems Communication

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
6	Contents and Copyright Issues	Queries related to content curation and copyright issues	content@ndl.gov.in
7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in

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