Assignment:
With your team, explore the relationship between network externalities, modularity, and platform competition. Provide reasonings as to why most industries adopt dominant designs and why certain firms within those industries' technology will be adopted as the industry standard.
Use the Network Externalities, Modularity, and Platform Competition worksheet to guide your discussion with your team. Summarize your discussion in the worksheet, then submit 1 completed worksheet as a team. There are no right or wrong answers, but you must include examples and research to support your discussion topics.
Discuss the following questions as a team:
1. What are some of the sources of increasing returns to adoption? In the healthcare industry? In information technology?
2. What are some examples of industries that demonstrate increasing returns to adoption?
3. What are some of the ways a firm can try to increase the overall value of its technology, and its likelihood of becoming the dominant design? Identify 2 to 3 examples.
4. What determines whether an industry is likely to have one or a few dominant designs?
5. Are dominant designs good for consumers? Competitors? Complementors? Suppliers? The economy? Provide support for your explanation along with 2 to 3 example designs or products.