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Uber, Airbnb, and Apple’s iPhone are innovations that have gobbled up market share and are transforming competition. What is common among them is that they are platform businesses that bring together producers and consumers in high-value exchanges. Their chief assets are information and interactions, which together are the source of the value they create and their competitive advantage.
With platforms, the fundamental rules of strategy change. Strategy shifts from controlling to orchestrating resources; from optimizing internal processes to facilitating external interactions; and from increasing customer value to maximizing the value of the ecosystem.
The failure to transition to a new approach explains the precarious situation that traditional businesses find themselves in. For traditional firms, the writing is on the wall: learn the new rules of strategy for a platform world, or begin planning your exit.