Study of people strategies in people intensive platform business in contrast to traditional business.

Abstract

The world is turning into a globally connected ecosystem of commerce and interaction – almost all customers and markets are now accessible from virtually anywhere. This rapid transition fuelled by the quick adoption and penetration of Internet and Smartphone technologies has, in the recent years, increased competition to astronomical levelsi This means a significant lowering of barriers to entry for new businesses. Established as well as new firms are now evolving and innovating their business model and strategies to focus on leveraging their internal competencies. As businesses innovate to scramble for building competitive advantage in the market, their models evolve to leaner, more efficient operations. A result of this churn is the emergence of firms with strategically outsourced functions and activities. This study tries to look at the business model from an “organization theory” aspect, looking at the newer people intensive marketplace/platform businesses that create and manage demand and supply-side networks to achieve their business objectives. For the purposes of clarity, it is important to mention that this study is looking at the management and control mechanisms at emerging platform businesses that provide skilled resources/suppliers for organization and people intensive services, to determine their role and effectiveness as proxy for organization or people strategies in the traditional business.