The IfSTO would like to cordially invite you to the upcoming research talk by

Assistant Professor Henning Piezunka (INSEAD Fountainebleau)

Topic: Deterring the New, Motivating the Established—The Divergent Effect of Platform Competition on Member Contributions in Digital Mapping Communities

Co-authors: Abhishek Nagaraj (UC Berkeley-Haas)

Abstract (short):
While popular platforms developed by knowledge-producing communities such as Wikipedia and Linux co-exist and compete with alternatives such as Encyclopedia Britannica and Microsoft Windows, we understand little about how such competition affects those communities. We develop a theory where competition has a divergent effect on community members’ contribution—it deters potential new members from joining the community and contributing, but motivates established members to increase their contributions. To test this theory, we examine how community members’ contributions to OpenStreetMap (a widely-used digital mapping platform) changed following the competitive entry of Google Maps. We exploit the phased entry of Google Maps in different countries over time to isolate the effect of competition and our findings support our theory on the divergent effects of competition. We also find that social interaction among community members attenuates the deterrent effect of competition on potential new members, but strengthens the motivating effect of competition on established members. We discuss the implications for research on contributions to knowledge-producing communities, platform competition, and the effect of competition on organizations.

Time: Thursday, 12 April 2018 from 12:00 noon until 1:30 pm

Location: Vienna University of Economics and Business, Building D1, Seminarroom D1.1.074, Welthandelsplatz 1, 1020 Vienna (please check for updates on: <link ifsto seminar-series>www.wu.ac.at/ifsto/seminar-series/)

If you are interested in attending the presentation, for planning purposes kindly confirm your interest to Elisabeth Brunner (elisabeth.brunner@wu.ac.at) until 6. April 2018

The speaker series is hosted jointly by the Institute for Strategy, Technology and Organization (Christopher Lettl) and the Strategic Management Subject Area at the University of Vienna (Markus Reitzig). The series addresses topics at the interface of strategic management, innovation, technology, and organization design. Aim of the series is the facilitation of research dialogue within our department, boundary spanning to other WU departments, and the facilitation of networking with renowned scholars in the field. See http://www.wu.ac.at/ifsto/speaker-series/ for details on future talks (speakers, dates). The series is associated with the RESEARCH PROGRAM ON OPEN INNOVATION of the Institute for Strategy, Technology and Organization.

We are greatly looking forward to seeing you!