How to Measure Network Effects
Platform success is often driven by network effects, the phenomenon where value increases as more users join the platform and interact with each other. Measuring networks effects, however, has remained a challenge for many companies, and the lack of scientific guidance has made it difficult to quantify and optimize the impact of network effects on their business.
To help business leaders measure network effects more effectively, Capgemini Invent’s Management Lab joined forces with the Boston University’s Questrom School of Business: a research team under the guidance of Professor Marshall Van Alstyne developed a concrete approach to quantify and monitor network effects along the three stages of development of a platform (launch, growth, maturity). In this BEA webinar Prof. Marshall Van Alstyne and Delia Wada-Gill will present the framework drawing on the latest platform research, and they will discuss with Capgemini’s Elisa Farri and Paolo Cervini how the approach can create tangible value for real applications within and across companies.
Professor Van Alstyne is a professor at Boston University and research associate at the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy. He is one of the world’s foremost experts on network business models and coauthor of the international bestseller Platform Revolution.
Elisa Farri worked as researcher for Harvard Business School’s Europe Research Centre in Paris, where she co-authored a dozen case studies, and contributed to book chapters and articles. In 2013 she was one of the founding members of ECSI. At Capgemini Invent’s Management Lab, she is responsible for nurturing relationships with management thinkers at the world’s top business schools.
Paolo Cervini is Co-Lead of Capgemini Invent’s Management Lab and Thinkers50 Radar Class 2023. He is supporting the Platform Symposium Matching Market, a new initiative connecting firms with leading academics and scientists.
Delia Wada-Gill is a member of the research team at the Questrom School of Business conducting the study on network effects.