Multi-sided Platform Adoption: Evidences from Manufacturing Companies

The recent rise of Multi-sided Platforms (MSPs) can help companies to foster their networking capabilities, also increasing the flexibility toward the external environment. MSPs can be defined as specific marketplaces where demand and offer interact without intermediation. They are virtual environments where heterogeneous entities conduct economic exchanges, connecting potential buyers and sellers, facilitating negotiation, final transactions, and enhancing the digital encounter between multiple actors. While MSPs are largely diffused at all business levels, they have been mostly studied with a B2C focus (e.g., Uber or Airbnb) advocating the benefits the customer could gain from using such platforms. In B2B contexts, MSPs can foster reductions in transaction costs while increasing transparency and information sharing, allowing companies to cross their boundaries by creating a flexible and interconnected environment. In an increasing necessity of processes’ flexibility, traceability and transparency, the use of MSPs is becoming relevant for manufacturing companies where sourcing costs and complexity are spiking.