Conference Paper · 2017
Wang, G., & Nandhakumar, J. (2017). Strategic swaying: How startups grow digital platforms. In Proceedings of the 38th International Conference on Information Systems (pp. 1–17). Association for Information Systems. https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2017/Strategy/Presentations/17/
Explore the original contribution
Interactive paper explorationStarting point
There is little money, no strong installed base, and no clear technological edge.
The paper’s insight
Build buyer relationships and improve seller services through connected online and offline work.
What changes
Buyer participation supports seller engagement; better seller offerings help retain and attract buyers.
Prominent platform-growth strategies often assume technological superiority, an installed user base, or resources to subsidise adoption—advantages an early startup may lack.
The study identifies strategic swaying: moving between both sides of a platform in perspective and physical location to understand and influence their activities. It combines socializing on the buyer side with enfolding on the seller side.
Concept explorer
Select a concept to see its role in this paper’s contribution.
The owner moves between users on both sides, in vantage point and physical location, to conceive and enact growth strategies.
Building a society of buyers through mutually supporting online and offline activities.
Organising sellers and standardising their offerings so the platform increasingly wraps their service provision.
A launch consideration highlighted by the case: begin with the side approachable using resources already available.
The contribution is the strategic practice and two mutually supporting strategies, showing how ordinary offline resources complement online instruments. Network effects provide an existing explanatory lens.
Discussion and implications, PDF pp.12–15; paper pp.11–14.
The findings connect online growth to off-platform service quality and show why launch decisions can reflect resource accessibility, not just which side responds best to subsidies or technology.
Implications, PDF pp.14–15; paper pp.13–14.
The authors recommend actively using buyer participation to improve seller offerings, then using better offerings to sustain buyers, rather than waiting for cross-side effects alone.
Practical implications, PDF p.15; paper p.14.
Study users in the offline field as well as on the platform, and consider how social incentives and service standards complement the application.
Practical implications, PDF p.15; paper p.14.
Why this matters
For broker platforms connecting online discovery to offline services, growth and service quality can depend on relationships and activities outside the application.
Discuss this researchSingle-case study of a Chinese startup connecting car owners and repair shops, including 25 interviews. The authors conservatively bound the strongest relevance to broker platforms; applicability to other platform types remains a research question.
Resource constraints, methods, socializing, enfolding, and strategic swaying.
Research and practical implications, broker-platform limit, future questions.
This exploration is based on the author-supplied full text. It distinguishes the paper’s own contribution from established concepts it draws on. For formal citation, consult the publication.