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Research Article
The Role of IS Capabilities in the Development of

Journal of the Association for Information
Multi-Sided Platforms: The Digital Ecosystem Strategy

of Alibaba.com
Barney Tan Xianghua Lu**
University of Sydney Fudan University
[email protected] [email protected]
Shan L. Pan Lihua Huang

University of New South Wales Fudan University
[email protected] [email protected]
Abstract
Multi-sided platforms (MSP) are revolutionizing the global competitive landscape in the new networked
economy. Yet, although these MSPs are underpinned by information systems (IS), there is currently little research
on how the IS capabilities of the platform sponsor can influence, and co-evolve with, the development of the
platform over time. The lack of knowledge in this area may account for the difficulties faced by a significant
number of platform sponsors in developing their MSPs effectively. Using a case study of Alibaba.com, one of the
world’s largest and most commercially successful online MSP, we inductively derive a process theory of MSP
development from an IS capability perspective to address this knowledge gap. The process model reveals that
the role of IS capabilities in MSP development is evolutionary in nature, and the antecedent IS capabilities,
nature, and outcomes of MSP development can be dramatically different in the various stages of
development.
Keywords: Multi-Sided Platforms, IS Capabilities, Network Competition, Platform Development, Case Study.
* Michael Barrett was the accepting senior editor. This article was submitted on 27th September 2011 and went
through two revisions.
** Corresponding author
Volume 16, Issue 4, pp. 248-280, April 2015
Volume 16  Issue 4
The Role of IS Capabilities in the Development of
Multi-Sided Platforms: The Digital Ecosystem Strategy
of Alibaba.com
1. Introduction
As the contemporary business landscape becomes increasingly defined by inter-network, as opposed
to inter-firm, competition (Adner & Kapoor, 2010), today’s most influential businesses tend to be those
that bring and bind together distinct groups of entities in a business network (Eisenmann, Parker, &
van Alstyne, 2006; Pierce, 2009). Commonly referred to as the sponsors of multi-sided platforms
(MSPs) (e.g., Boudreau & Hagiu, 2009), these businesses provide the infrastructure, services, and
rules that enable transactions between network members (Bakos & Katsamakas, 2008; Iansiti &
Levien, 2004b). A MSP is a commercial network of suppliers, producers, intermediaries, customers
(Cusumano & Gawer, 2002), and producers of complementary products and services termed
“complementors” (Teece, 2007, p. 1324) that are held together through formal contracting and/or
mutual dependency (Pierce, 2009). Notable examples of MSP sponsors include Microsoft, which
brings together PC manufacturers, users, and application developers with its Windows operating
system; Google, which brings together Internet users, content providers, and advertisers with its web
portal; and eBay, which brings together buyers and sellers with its online auction marketplace (e.g.,
Eisenmann et al., 2006; Gawer & Cusumano, 2008; Pavlou & Gefen, 2004).
Despite their growing importance and relevance in the new networked economy, our knowledge on
MSP formation and development remains limited. In particular, the existing literature has two
important gaps. First, the majority of the existing studies are centered on MSPs’ pricing structure (e.g.,
Bakos & Katsamakas, 2008; Rochet & Tirole, 2006), while research on other factors that could
influence MSP development, such as the platform sponsor’s role (Dhanaraj & Parkhe, 2006) and an
appropriate platform development strategy (Gawer & Cusumano, 2008), remain limited. Second,
MSPs’ current viability can be largely attributed to important advances in information systems (IS)
since the turn of the millennium (e.g., Yoo, Choudhary, & Mukhopadhay, 2007), which has “increased
the opportunities for building larger, more valuable and powerful platforms” (Hagiu, 2009, p. 2). Yet,
the role of IS capabilities in MSPs’ formation and development and the evolution of those capabilities
over time have not been studied to a significant degree. We elaborate on these gaps in our literature
review, but, beyond their academic significance, these knowledge gaps may account for the
difficulties encountered by the significant majority of platform sponsors in establishing and sustaining
their MSPs (Eisenmann et al., 2006).
Using a case study of Alibaba.com, one of the world’s largest online MSPs that supports a thriving
network of over 80 million members worldwide, we examine how Aliaba’s phenomenally successful
platform was developed. In creating a “consultable record” (Geertz, 1973, p. 30) of how Alibaba’s IS
capabilities had influenced, and co-evolved with, the development of its MSP over time, we address
the aforementioned gaps in two ways. First, we present a process theory on MSP development from
an IS capability perspective to complement existing research. Second, we provide a longitudinal
perspective of MSP development that captures the dynamicism of the phenomenon, and we reveal
the sequence and boundary conditions of some of the enablers for platform development identified in
the literature (e.g., Eisenmann, Parker, & van Alstyne, 2009; Gawer & Cusumano, 2008).
Accordingly, we explore two research questions: 1) how did Alibaba’s IS capabilities influence its
MSP’s formation and growth?, and 2) how did Alibaba’s IS capabilities evolve with the development
of its MSP over time?
2. Literature Review
2.1. Multi-Sided Platforms
Although platforms have existed for centuries (Hagiu, 2009, for instance, cites the village market and
matchmakers as historical examples of platforms), they are gaining prominence in the contemporary
business landscape to the extent that many diverse industries are led by the businesses that operate
them today (Eisenmann et al., 2006; Evans & Schmalensee, 2007). Reflecting their increasing
economic importance (Adner & Kapoor, 2010), a growing number of studies centered on the
development of platforms are emerging (Parker & van Alstyne, 2008). As a theoretical concept, the
249 Journal of the Association for Information Systems Vol. 16, Issue 4, pp. 248-280, April 2015
Tan et al. / IS Capabilities in Platforms
notion of platforms were initially introduced as “two-sided markets”, which refers to a market with two
distinct sides that benefit from network effects by interacting on a common platform (see Rochet &
Tirole, 2003). Network effects refers to the increasing value of platform membership to an entity as
the number of other entities on the platform increases (Katz & Shapiro, 1994).
MSPs are related to, and build on (e.g., Bakos & Katsamakas, 2008), the concept of two-sided
markets. Like two-sided markets, cross-side network effects must exist between the different groups
of entities on a MSP (Bakos & Katsamakas, 2008) that the entities cannot establish independently
(Rochet & Tirole, 2006). Moreover, both MSPs and two-sided markets are managed by a sponsor
that is responsible for providing the infrastructure and services to enable interactions and triangular
exchanges between the different groups of entities (Eisenmann et al., 2009) and for establishing the
rules that govern transactions and coordinate network activities (Boudreau & Hagiu, 2009). A key
point of difference, however, is that, unlike two-sided markets, MSPs are more complex in that they
serve a variety of distinct entities with diverse interests. These entities could include the suppliers,
producers, intermediaries, customers, and complementors in a business network (Adner & Kapoor,
2010; Cusumano & Gawer, 2002) that “need each other in some way” (Evans & Schmalensee, 2007,
p. 152). Note that the terms “ecosystem” and “market” are sometimes used synonymously with
“platform” (e.g., Eisenmann et al., 2006; Parker & van Alstyne, 2008) in the literature. Likewise, the
platform sponsor is sometimes referred to as a platform leader (e.g., Gawer & Cusumano, 2008), a
keystone (e.g., Iansiti & Levien, 2004a), or a core firm (e.g., Pierce, 2009).
A review of published and working papers (refer to Table 1) reveals two gaps of the existing literature
on MSP development. First, a significant number of the existing studies focus on platforms’ pricing
structure and assume that a network will develop effectively through the workings of network effects
once the right pricing structure is in place (e.g., Bakos & Katsamakas, 2008; Rochet & Tirole, 2006).
To illustrate, the factors that influence platform development identified in these studies include
institution-based trust (Pavlou & Gefen, 2004), size of cross-network effects (Armstrong, 2006),
membership costs (Rochet & Tirole, 2006), subsidies (Evans & Schmalensee, 2007), and network
asymmetries (Bakos & Katsamakas, 2008; Yoo et al., 2007).
Table 1. Selected Studies on MSP Development

Source Type Key arguments
Cusumano & Conceptual To attain platform leadership, a firm must determine its scope, decide on
Gawer (2002)* level of product modularity, determine the nature of their relationship with
platform entities, and establish the right internal structure.
Rochet & Empirical Most markets with network effects are platforms. Markets are only
Tirole platforms if they can effectively cross-subsidize between the different
(2003) groups of platform members.
Iansiti & Conceptual Platform success is dependent on the role of the platform sponsor.
Levien Platform sponsor should adopt the role of a keystone and provide
(2004b)* benefits to the other platform members to improve its own chances of
survival
Pavlou & Empirical Platform success is dependent on trust in and perceived risk of sellers.
Gefen (2004)* These factors, in turn, are determined by the perceived effectiveness of
four institutional mechanisms (feedback mechanisms, escrow services,
credit card guarantees, and trust in intermediary).
Parker & van Empirical Firms can give away products if it can cover the cost through
Alstyne (2005) complementary products. Deciding which side to subsidize in a two-sided
platform depends on relative network effects.
Armstrong Empirical Determinants of equilibrium prices in two-sided platforms include size of
(2006) cross-network effects, fee structure, and occurrences of multi-homing.
Dhanaraj & Conceptual Platform success is dependent on the effectiveness of the sponsor in
Parkhe (2006)* managing knowledge mobility, innovation appropriability, and network
stability in the platform.
Journal of the Association for Information Systems Vol. 16, Issue 4, pp. 248-280, April 2015 250
Pan et al. / IS Capabilities in Platforms
Table 1. Selected Studies on MSP Development (cont.)

Source Type Key arguments
Economides & Empirical Level of investment for developers in applications is larger when the
Katsamakas operating system is open source rather than proprietary. The level of
(2006a) investment, in turn, is determined by reputation effects and the number of
developers.
Economides & Empirical The vertically integrated proprietary platform is the most profitable type of
Katsamakas platform. However, the open-source platform can be more profitable than
(2006b) the vertically disintegrated proprietary platform under certain conditions
(e.g., preference for application variety) and vice versa (e.g., when
demand for proprietary platform is significantly larger than that of the
application). Application variety is highest on open-source platforms.
Eisenmann et Conceptual To manage a two-sided platform effectively, the sponsor must adopt an
al. (2006) appropriate pricing structure, manage the winner-take-all competitive
dynamics, and mitigate the threat of envelopment
Rochet & Empirical Factors influencing the development of two-sided platforms include
Tirole (2006) transaction costs for members, sponsor-imposed constraints, and
membership costs.
Evans & Conceptual Pricing and strategies of platform sponsors are influenced by indirect and
Schmalensee cross network effects. Profit-maximizing prices may involve subsidizing
(2007) one set of customers over the long run.
Iansiti & Zhu Empirical Platform quality is not the sole determinant of platform success. Indirect
(2007) network effects and forward looking behavior (i.e., consumer’s discount
factor of future applications) will enhance the effect of quality advantage.
As such, installed-based advantages may not be sustainable.
Yoo et al. Empirical Platform sponsor benefits from platform participation, which induces
(2007)* them to set prices that increases overall participation. Biased platforms
confer greater benefits to participants than neutral platforms.
Bakos & Empirical Sponsors can influence the level and asymmetry of network effects.
Katsamakas Participation should be encouraged for one side (through investments)
(2008) and constrained for the other (through an appropriate pricing strategy).
Gawer & Conceptual To become a platform leader, a firm should adopt a coring strategy to
Cusumano establish centrality and a tipping strategy to gain momentum and critical
(2008) mass/
Parker & van Empirical Increasing number of developers (i.e., suppliers) will increase platform
Alstyne (2008) openness. Increasing competition between developers will decrease
platform openness. Platform openness can influence innovation and
profits.
Eisenmann et Conceptual Strategies for managing platform openness include horizontal strategies,
al. (2009) vertical strategies, and the absorption of complements. Each strategy
affects the platform access of the four types of platform participants
differently.
Hagiu (2009) Conceptual To design and develop a platform, the sponsor must identify a new
platform opportunity, analyze risk of development, attract platform
members, and select a business model before deepening their platform
by providing enhanced value.
Eisenmann, Conceptual Platform development can occur through envelopment in three forms, the
Parker, & Van envelopment of complements, the envelopment of weak substitutes, and
Alstyne (2011) the envelopment of unrelated platforms.
* Although these papers do not explicitly use the term “platform”, we have nevertheless included them in our literature review
due to the proximity of the concepts used.
However, platform development is influenced by a host of other factors. But, of the handful of works
that look beyond pricing, most are conceptual in nature and not supported with qualitative or
quantitative evidence (e.g., Eisenmann et al., 2009; Gawer & Cusumano, 2008). The prescriptions for
platform development presented in these works include the adoption of a facilitating role by the
platform sponsor (Dhanaraj & Parkhe, 2006; Iansiti & Levien, 2004a), the management of competitive
dynamics (Eisenmann et al., 2006), the identification of platform opportunities (Hagiu, 2009), the
management of platform openness (Eisenmann et al., 2009), and the enactment of a “coring” and
“tipping” strategy. Coring refers to the set of activities a sponsor can use to identify or design an
offering (a technology, a product, or a service) and make this offering fundamental to the platform.
Tipping, on the other hand, refers to the set of activities or strategic moves that sponsor can use to
shape market dynamics and gain momentum when there are competing platforms (Gawer &
Cusumano, 2008).
Second, although the contemporary MSPs that are revolutionizing the global competitive landscape
are underpinned by IS (e.g., Hagiu, 2009; Yoo et al., 2007), little research on the implications of IS
capabilities for developing these MSPs exists. The IS-related discourse in the existing MSP
development literature has been largely limited to questions of compatibility versus incompatibility
(e.g., Economides & Katsamakas, 2006b; Rochet & Tirole, 2006), open versus closed standards
(e.g., Eisenmann et al., 2009; Parker & van Alstyne, 2008), and the migration strategies (e.g.,
Economides & Katsamakas, 2006a; Iansiti & Zhu, 2007) implied by these choices. While these issues
are clearly important, given the criticality of IS to the form and function of these platforms (Eisenmann
et al., 2006) and the far-reaching strategic and organizational implications of IS (e.g., Kohli & Grover,
2008; Sambamurthy, Bharadwaj, & Grover, 2003), we need more research in this area to provide
MSPs’ sponsors with clearer indications about how to develop and grow their platforms effectively.
To address these gaps, we examine the role of IS capabilities in MSP development and how this may
evolve over time. Accordingly, we review the literature on IS capabilities to construct a theoretical lens that
serves as “a complicated sensing device to register a complicated set of events” (Weick, 2007, p. 16).
2.2. IS Capabilities
IS capabilities refer to an organization’s “ability to mobilize and deploy information technology (IT) based
resources in combination or copresent with other resources and capabilities” (Bharadwaj, 2000, p. 171)
to enhance its overall efficiency, effectiveness, and/or flexibility in accordance to business needs
(Karimi, Somers, & Bhattacherjee, 2007). They are sometimes also referred to as IT capabilities (e.g.,
Santhanam & Hartono, 2003), IT assets (e.g., Nevo & Wade, 2010), IS resources (e.g., Karimi et al.,
2007), or IS competencies (e.g., Tarafdar & Gordon, 2007) in the literature. Although some researchers
have tried to draw a distinction between these terms (e.g., Doherty & Terry, 2007), all of them generally
refer to the same theoretical construct and have typically been included in the same literature review of
the topic (e.g., Tarafdar & Gordon, 2007; Wade & Hulland, 2004).
Motivated as a means for understanding the performance implications of IS (e.g., Bharadwaj, 2000),
the earliest studies on IS capabilities emerged in the mid-1990s (e.g., Mata & Fuerst, 1995; Ross,
Beath, & Goodhue, 1996) and have their roots in the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm (e.g.,
Barney, 1991). Almost fifteen years on, and invigorated by the re-emergence of the IT productivity
paradox following the dot-com crash (e.g., Carr, 2003) along the way, contemporary research on IS
capabilities remain just as well received and appear to have diverged into two dominant perspectives
(Piccoli & Ives, 2005). One perspective draws on the classic proposition of the RBV and holds that
certain IS capabilities may either be the means to sustainable competitive advantage in themselves
(e.g., Bhatt & Grover, 2005; Santhanam & Hartono, 2003), or they may be strategic necessities
(Powell & Dent-Micallef, 1997) that can be combined with complementary organizational capabilities
to this end (e.g., Ravichandran & Lertwongsatien, 2005). On the other hand, reflecting the increasing
skepticism about the possibility of sustaining competitive advantages over time (Sirmon, Hitt, &
Ireland, 2007) and the growing consensus that IT has become a commodity in its pervasiveness and
widespread availability (Carr, 2003), an alternative perspective of IS capabilities have instead
emphasized their role in enabling enterprise agility. Enterprise agility refers to the organizational
ability to consistently detect market opportunities and seize them with speed and surprise with the
launch of “many and varied competitive actions” (Sambamurthy et al., 2003, p. 237). Unlike the first
perspective, the aim of enterprise agility is not to attain and sustain a single form of competitive
advantage for an extended period; instead, in creating a continuous stream of temporary competitive
advantages and stringing these together over time (Eisenhardt & Sull, 2001), a firm is able to
maintain a constant edge over its competitors. A common theme between the two perspectives,
however, is that IS capabilities must be aligned with a firm’s business objectives and resources to
produce a specific organizational outcome (e.g., Nevo & Wade, 2010; Overby, Bharadwaj, &
Sambamurthy, 2006).
Because we examine the impact of Alibaba’s IS capabilities on the development of its MSP and how
they might be replaced or transformed over time, we need to understand the various types of IS
capabilities that could potentially influence MSP development. Following a review of the various
typologies of IS capabilities in the existing literature (refer to Table 2), we eventually adopted Wade and
Hulland’s (2004) taxonomy to guide our inquiry because “it is probably one of the most coherent and
comprehensive taxonomies, and it explicitly addresses outwardly facing IS capabilities, in addition to the
more commonly considered internally focused ones” (Doherty & Terry, 2007, p. 103). The latter quality
makes it particularly appropriate for informing our study because developing MSPs involves and
impacts a host of diverse entities beyond a single firm’s boundaries (Rochet & Tirole, 2006).
Table 2. Selected Typologies of IS Capabilities

Phenomenon of
Source Typology of IS capabilities
interest
Customer switching costs
Access to capital IT and sustainable
Mata et al. (1995) Proprietary technology competitive
Technical IT skills advantage
Managerial IT skills
Human resources (Open organization, open communications,
consensus, CEO commitment, flexibility, IS/strategy integration)
Powell & Dent- IT and competitive
Business resources (Supplier relationships, supplier-driven IT, IT
Micallef (1997) advantage
training, process redesign, teams, benchmarking, IT planning)
Technology resources (ITs)
IS/IT governance
Business systems thinking
Relationship building
Feeny & Willcocks
Designing technical architecture
(1998a, 1998b); Core capabilities of IS
Making technology work
Wilcocks, Feeny, function
Informed buying
& Olsen (2006)
Contract facilitation
Contract monitoring
Vendor development
IT business partnerships
Conceptual
External IT linkages
Bharadwaj, definitions and
Business IT strategic thinking
Sambamurthy, & empirical
IT business process integration
Zmud (1999) operationalization of
IT management
IT capabilities
IT infrastructures
IT infrastructure
Human IT resources (Technical IT skills, managerial IT skills) IT and firm
Bharadwaj (2000)
IT-enabled intangibles (Customer orientation, knowledge assets, performance
synergy
Capability to strategize
e-Commerce
Montealegre Capability to be flexible
capability
(2002) Capability to integrate and engender trust
development
Key resources (Leadership, culture, IT, long-term view, networks)
Table 2. Selected Typologies of IS Capabilities (cont.)

Phenomenon of
Source Typology of IS capabilities
interest
IT competence
Digitized process reach
Sambamurthy et IT and enterprise
Digitized process richness
al. (2003) agility
Digitized knowledge rich
Digitized knowledge richness
Intensity of organizational learning
Bhatt & Grover Relationship infrastructure IT and competitive
(2005) IT business expertise advantage
IT infrastructure quality
Technical skills
IT and sustainable
Piccoli & Ives IT management skills
competitive
(2005) Relationship asset
advantage
IT assets (IT infrastructure, information repository)
IS human capital (IS personnel skill, IS human resource specificity)
IT infrastructure flexibility (Network & platform sophistication, data and
applications sophistication)
Ravichandran & IS partnership quality (Internal partnership quality, external partnership
IT and firm
Lertwongsatien quality)
performance
(2005) IS planning sophistication
Systems development capability
IS support maturity
IS operations capability
Manage external relationship
Market responsiveness
IS business partnerships
IS capabilities from
Wade & Hulland IS planning and change management
the perspective of the
(2004) IS infrastructure
RBV
IS technical skills
IS development
Cost effective IS operations
Knowledge resources (Business process knowledge, project
ERP capability
management knowledge)
Karimi et al. development and
Relationship resources (user involvement, top management
(2007) business process
involvement)
outcomes
IT infrastructure resources
Knowledge management
Collaboration
Tarafdar & Project management IT and process
Gordon (2007) Ambidexterity innovation
IT/innovation governance
Business IS linkage
Stoel & Mulhanna Internally focused IT capabilities IT and firm
(2009) Externally focused IT capabilities performance
In their paper, Wade and Hulland (2004) distill the myriad of IS capabilities described in prior literature
into eight key IS capabilities (see Table 3). Based on the typology of organizational capabilities that
Day (1994) develops, they further organize the eight IS capabilities into three broad categories: 1)
outside-in IS capabilities, which refer to externally focused IS capabilities related to anticipating
market needs, understanding competitors, and creating durable relationships with customers; 2)
inside-out IS capabilities, which refer to internally oriented IS capabilities deployed in a firm in
response to market demands and opportunities; and 3) spanning IS capabilities, which refer to the IS
capabilities required to integrate the two previous categories of IS capabilities that derive from both
internal and external analyses (for a review, see Wade & Hulland, 2004).
Applying this typology as a theoretical lens to analyze the events, activities, and decisions that
transpired at Alibaba, we inductively derive a model of the process of developing MSPs from an IS
capabilities perspective to address our research questions.
Table 3. Wade and Hulland’s (2004) Typology of IS Capabilities1

Capability Definition
Outside-in IS capabilities
External relationship Firm’s ability to manage the relationships between its IT function and external
management stakeholders.
Market responsiveness Firm’s ability to sense and respond to changes in the external environment
(Overby et al., 2006).
Inside-out IS capabilities
IS infrastructure Physical IT assets including hardware, software, and networking technologies
(Bharadwaj, 2000).
IS technical skills Relevant and updated technology skills related to hardware and software held
by a firm’s IT employees.
IS development Capability to develop or experiment with new technologies.
Cost-effective IS Firm’s ability to provide cost-effective and efficient IS operations on an
operations ongoing basis.
Spanning IS capabilities
IS-strategy alignment2 Firm’s ability to integrate its business strategy, IS strategy, business
infrastructure, and IT infrastructure (Henderson & Venkatraman, 1999).
IS planning Firm’s ability to plan, manage. and use appropriate technology architectures
and standards.
1
Unless otherwise indicated, we derive all definitions from Wade and Hulland (2004)
2
We use the term IS-strategy alignment here as opposed to the original term IS-business partnerships (manage internal
relationships) because we felt that they captured the essence of the construct more adequately (see Wade & Hulland, 2004).
3. Research Methodology
The case research methodology is particularly appropriate for this study for several reasons. First,
case research is particularly appropriate for examining processes (Gephart, 2004; Majchrzak, Rice,
Malhotra, King, & Ba, 2000) and addressing “how” and “why” research questions (Walsham, 1995;
Yin, 2003). Our research questions are how questions that delve into the process of MSP
development from an IS-capability perspective. Second, because our phenomena of interest,
contemporary IS-enabled MSPs, are multi-dimensional and include a social, technological, and
business dimension, their inherent complexity makes an objective approach to research difficult
(Koch & Schultze, 2011). Consequently, it may be more appropriate to examine the phenomenon by
interpreting the relevant stakeholders’ shared understanding (Klein & Myers, 1999).
We selected our cases based on two conditions. First, we needed a case organization that had
leveraged its IS capabilities to help establish and grow its MSP. Second, the IS capabilities enacted
should have been transformed or replaced over time because this would provide us with a dynamic
and longitudinal perspective of their role in the MSP’s development. The case of Alibaba.com, the
largest business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce portal in the world, was particularly appropriate for
our purpose because its online MSP is one of the most commercially successful and because the
company used a variety of IS capabilities to help develop it throughout its life
3.1. Data Collection

We collected data in three stages. In the first stage, a preparatory stage that lasted from May to June
2008, we conducted preliminary email and phone interviews with several senior managers at Alibaba
and its subsidiaries. We used information from these sources to enhance our sensitivity toward
Alibaba and its MSP and as a basis for formulating questions for interviews in subsequent site visits
(Darke, Shanks, & Broadbent, 1998). In the second stage, which involved a team of five researchers
and lasted from July 2008 to January 2009, we visited Alibaba’s headquarters and several of its
subsidiaries and platform members multiple times. With five researchers, we could triangulate our
interpretations and observations of Alibaba’s MSP (Klein & Myers, 1999). In this stage, we conducted
a total of 20 interviews with key members of Alibaba’s senior management, senior managers of its
various business units, and the merchants, advertisers, buyers, and analysts that constituted its MSP.
In the third stage, which lasted from May 2009 to December 2012, we conducted 11 follow up face-
to-face, phone, email, and instant messaging (IM) interviews to obtain further corroborating evidence
for our interpretation of the events that occurred and validate our emergent theory with relevant
informants (Pan & Tan, 2011). We stopped at 11 interviews because we had obtained multiple
sources of corroborating evidence for all of our key findings (Klein & Myers, 1999).
We conducted all the interviews across all stages with semi-structured interview guides (see
Appendix A for a sample) that we designed based on the pertinent themes in the MSP development
and IS capabilities literatures (we discuss these themes in Section 5). This approach is less rigid than
an explanatory case study that simply seeks to validate pre-formulated hypotheses (Yin, 2003) and
balances the generative nature of pure induction with the pragmatism of early structure (Langley,
1999). Each interview guide had a standard core of questions pertaining to the nature of platform
development and Alibaba’s overarching corporate platform strategy. It also had a section on specific
IS capabilities and platform-related initiatives that was tailored to the informant’s role the stakeholder
group that the individual represented (in the manner of Ferlie, Fitzgerald, Wood, & Hawkins, 2005).
We based our email, IM, and phone interviews on similar interview guides but, with the absence of
non-textual cues, we took additional care to verify the intent and meaning of the data collected. Each
member of our research team examined the data obtained from these interviews carefully and
independently to ensure a consistent interpretation (Klein & Myers, 1999) either after they were
received (in the case of email) or in real time (in the case of phone and IM). Clarifications and follow-
up questions were made if any of the responses were deemed to be ambiguous.
We digitally recorded the face-to-face interviews, which took an average of 90 minutes, and later
transcribed them for analysis. We directly extracted the email and conversation logs for the email,
phone, and IM interviews. All the interviews were conducted in Mandarin, but, because every member
of the research team was bilingual and proficient in both English and Mandarin (including two native
speakers of English), we retained and analyzed all the textual data in the original language and only
translated at the time of writing. A single member of the research team performed the translations to
ensure consistency, but other members carefully examined and validated these translations to ensure
coherence (Klein & Myers, 1999). In all, the transcripts, emails, and conversation logs amounted to
about 524 pages of textual data.
Moreover, because the development of Alibaba’s platform spanned an extended period of time that
precluded real-time data collection, we supplemented our interview data with an archival analysis of
secondary documents (Mason, McKenney, & Copeland, 1997) to mitigate the possibility of
retrospective rationalization on the part of our informants (Glick, Huber, Miller, Doty, & Sutcliffe,
1990),. The secondary data includes news articles, books, internal publications, and information from
the corporate website. Because the fourth author had served as a consultant for several projects at
Alibaba over the last decade, she was able to independently verify much of the data that was
uncovered. Appendix B summarizes the primary and secondary sources of information. The data
from secondary sources amounted to approximately 973 pages of textual data and were subject to
the same procedures of coding and analysis.
3.2. Data Analysis

We analyzed the data concurrently as we collected it to take advantage of the flexibility that the case
research methodology affords (Eisenhardt, 1989). First, we created a chronological timeline of Alibaba’s
platform development based on our preliminary interviews and constructed a theoretical lens based on the
literatures on MSP development and IS capabilities (Pan & Tan, 2011). As part of this lens, we identified an
initial set of five aggregate theoretical dimensions and 17 second-order themes (Dacin, Munir, & Tracey,
2010) that were potentially relevant to our inquiry (refer to Table 4). We then used the theoretical dimensions
and second-order themes to guide our questions for subsequent interviews (Klein & Myers, 1999).
Table 4. Dimensions and Themes of Theoretical Lens

Theoretical dimension Second-order themes
MSP development literature
Enablers of platform • Pricing structure (Bakos & Katsamakas, 2008; Rochet & Tirole, 2006)
development • Sponsor facilitation (Dhanaraj & Parkhe, 2006; Iansiti & Levien, 2004a)
• Management of competitive dynamics (Eisenmann et al., 2006)
• Identification of platform opportunities (Hagiu, 2009)
• Management of platform openness (Eisenmann et al., 2009)
• Coring strategy (Gawer & Cusumano, 2008)
• Tipping strategy (Gawer & Cusumano, 2008)
Nature of MSP • Two-sided (Rochet & Tirole, 2003)
• Multi-sided (Hagiu, 2009)
IS capabilities literature1
Outside-in IS capabilities • External relationship management
• Market responsiveness
Inside-out IS capabilities • IS infrastructure
• IS technical skills
• IS development
• Cost-effective IS operations
Spanning IS capabilities • IS-strategy alignment
• IS planning
1
We extracted dimensions and themes from Wade and Hulland’s (2004) typology
Second, because the development of Alibaba’s MSP was a process that unfolded over an extended
period of time, we examined whether the nature of its MSP had evolved over time. From our initial
interviews, which provided us with an overview of the phenomenon of interest (Pan & Tan, 2011), we
were able to identify three distinct stages of platform development. The first was when Alibaba was a
two-sided platform (Rochet & Tirole, 2003) that brought merchants and buyers together at the point of
its inception. In this stage, the platform was in a hub-and-spoke configuration because merchants and
buyers were not allowed to interact with one another to prevent disintermediation. The second was
when a networked configuration emerged with Alibaba’s acquisition of Yahoo China and Koubei.com
that facilitated interactions and the formation of relationships between the merchants and buyers on
the platform. The third was when the two-sided platform became a MSP (Hagiu, 2009) with the
launch of initiatives such as Alimama, Aliloan, and Alisoft that introduced advertisers and
complementary service providers onto the platform. Accordingly, we adopted a temporal bracketing
strategy (Langley, 1999) based on the distinct stages of platform development that emerged to create
1) a frame of reference for comparative analysis and 2) a logical structure to organize the data that
we were going to collect in subsequent interviews. Because the progression of the three stages seem
to reflect increasing levels of platform maturity (i.e., in terms of size, complexity, and number of
participant groups), we refer to the three stages of platform development as the nascent stage, the
formative stage, and the mature stage, respectively. We describe e these stages more fully in the
case description section.
Third, we used multiple coding techniques (refer to Appendix C) to code and organize the interview
data and extend the theoretical lens into a full-fledged process theory (Pan & Tan, 2011). In
particular, if a piece of data that did not fit easily in the existing schema emerged, then we modified
the theoretical dimensions and second-order themes and the relationships between them with either
open or axial coding, respectively (Walsham, 2006). On the other hand, if the emergent data was
closely aligned with an existing theme, we used selective coding to associate the piece of data to the
conceptual category (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). We verified each new finding to ensure that it was
supported by at least two sources of data (Klein & Myers, 1999), and we restarted coding whenever
we added, modified, or deleted new theoretical dimensions or second-order themes. By “recursively
iterating between (and thus constantly comparing) theory and data” (Eisenhardt & Graebner, 2007, p.
30) in this way, we inductively derived and gradually shaped our theory.
At various points in the process of data analysis where changes to the emergent theory were
particularly significant, we used the visual mapping and narrative strategies (Langley, 1999) to
summarize and validate our findings. The visual mapping strategy involved documenting the
emergent theory in a series of diagrammatic sketches. The narrative strategy, on the other hand,
entailed constructing a “story” that represented our account of what happened. After we constructed
the visual maps and the narrative, we verified them with relevant informants (Klein & Myers, 1999).
We did this also to ensure the validity of both our interpretation of the events, activities, and decisions
that unfolded and our theoretical ideas (Pan & Tan, 2011). We continued this process until we
reached theoretical saturation (Glaser & Strauss, 1967), which refers to the state where the
inductively derived model can comprehensively account for the case data and “incremental learning is
minimal because the researchers are observing phenomena seen before” (Eisenhardt, 1989, p. 545).
Figure 1 overviews our research approach and the measures we adopted to ensure the reliability and
validity of our findings.
Figure 1. Overview of Research Approach
4. Case Description
Alibaba is the world’s largest B2B e-commerce portal with over 80 million registered users worldwide.
Its business focuses on providing a trading platform that connects international buyers to suppliers in
China for virtually any product. Alibaba was founded in the city of Hangzhou in March 1999 when its
iconic founder, Jack Ma, saw an unmet need for a B2B platform that connected the millions of small
and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in China to customers all over the world (People Daily Online,
2007). Within a relatively short span of 13 years, Alibaba grew from a small e-commerce startup that
operated out of Ma’s apartment to a publicly listed multi-national corporation with an annual revenue
that was estimated at US$1.02 billion in 2011. Behind Alibaba’s commercial success lies a vibrant
and populous online MSP. By the first quarter of 2012, Alibaba’s MSP had attracted 27.3 and 52.4
million international and Chinese members, respectively, and it continues to grow at a rate of 41.6
percent annually. Driving the phenomenal growth of its MSP over the years, in turn, was several
platform strategies that were facilitated by an evolving set of IS capabilities.
4.1. Catering to an Unmet Need (1999-2004)

From its inception up to around 2004, Alibaba’s objective focused on establishing itself as the de facto
B2B platform for SMEs in China. Because Alibaba was essentially seeking to become a two-sided
platform (Rochet & Tirole, 2003) that brought merchants and buyers together, we classified this period
as the first stage of its development. To facilitate its objective in this stage, Alibaba adopted two platform
development strategies. First, when Alibaba first entered the market in 1999, many of the SMEs lacked
the technical capabilities to go online because Internet penetration was very low in China at the time.
Consequently, Alibaba sought to increase the ease of participation on its platform by helping the SMEs
that lacked technical capabilities to collate, organize, publish, and promote their corporate and product
information on its website. A gold supplier on Alibaba’s B2B platform explained:
You didn’t need to know how to create your own website and publish your own
information… Alibaba would collect this information and publish it on the Internet on our
behalf. So you might not know anything about the Internet, but yet you are online and
have an e-commerce website. It was a big deal at the time.
Second, Alibaba leveraged its technological infrastructure, technical expertise (accumulated from the
experience of developing ChinaPages and ChinaMarket, Ma’s previous e-commerce ventures), and
understanding of local business practices to establish a unique value proposition. For instance, they
launched Alipay and Trustpass to mitigate the greater mistrust of online transactions among Chinese
firms. Alipay was an online escrow service that was unique in the Chinese market at the time, and
Trustpass was an extensive online credit verification, identity authentication, and certification service
that integrates third-party certification, comments, and feedback from previous customers and the
records of previous transactions on the Alibaba platform. In addition, recognizing the propensity for
haggling and price negotiations in Chinese business transactions, they launched Wangwang (an
instant messaging system) in support of their B2B and C2C platforms. Through these initiatives,
Alibaba was able to tailor its offering to cater to the needs of the immense SME market. A buyer on
Taobao, Alibaba’s C2C platform, explained:
What Alibaba did really well was provide a mode of transactions that was attuned to the
way we are used to doing things. I could bargain with the seller using Wangwang… I
could receive my goods first and pay later with Alipay… These are not possible with
eBay [China].
By lowering the barriers of participation, Alibaba was able to attract a myriad of SMEs to join its
platform. In addition, by providing a unique value proposition, Alibaba was able to entrench itself at the
center of value creation. Consequently, it formed a hub-and-spoke, two-sided platform consisting of
merchants and buyers. Its centrality in the platform, in turn, enhanced Alibaba’s ability to sense its
customers’ needs because Alibaba was able to collect feedback directly from the other entities in the
platform. Moreover, because Alibaba’s organizational actions were enacted at the center of the network,
its actions impacted the entire platform concurrently, which enabled a quicker response to its customers’
needs. Table 5 presents the dimensions and themes that we found to be salient in this stage and their
supporting evidence. We discuss the derivation of these dimensions and themes in Section 5.
Table 5. Dimensions, Themes, and Data in the Nascent Stage (1999-2004)

Dimensions and
Representative data
second-order themes
1. Outside-in IS
capabilities
A. Market A. [Jack] Ma… saw the business opportunity early. He knew that there would be a
responsiveness huge demand for Chinese products in the West [with China’s entry into the WTO].
He wanted China to be the factory of the world… There were many SMEs in
China but most of them lacked the channels and bridges to communicate with the
world. [Alibaba] came out at the right time and successfully filled this role. (Alibaba
B2B Seller A)
2. Spanning IS
capabilities
B. IS-strategy B. We were the first to cater exclusively to the needs of SMEs. As a result, our
alignment/ IS networking platform, the trust supporting mechanisms we used, and our payment
planning systems were all geared towards meeting the needs of this particular segment.
This was what differentiated us from the other B2B platforms in the beginning –
(Taobao VP of Customer Relations)
3. Inside-out IS
capabilities
C. IS infrastructure C. Trustpass and Alipay were some innovations… but most of the technological
initiatives we introduced… like “Wangwang”… were more the application of
existing technologies in innovative ways. (Alibaba VP of Research & Training)
D. IS technical skills D. The experience from managing ChinaPages [and later ChinaMarket] was
instrumental to Alibaba’s [initial] success. It was here that they picked up the
technical skills of website development and learnt what it took to run a B2B e-
commerce portal… (Alibaba B2B Seller A)
4. Enablers of
platform
development
E. Tipping strategy E. We helped to collate, organize and publish [our members’] information on our
website… we organized the information by product category and provided search
functionality to lower the cost of finding the information…. we went to different
websites to promote Alibaba, telling people that business opportunities and all
kinds of products from all over the globe can be found on our website… (Alibaba
B2B GM)
F. Coring strategy F. There were three factors that differentiated us from our foreign competitors. First,
we provided tools like “Wangwang” [which allowed transacting parties to haggle
over prices] and “Alipay” [which helped mitigate the greater mistrust of online
transactions among Chinese firms]. Second, we provided our services free of
charge. Third, our websites were designed to suit to our Chinese culture. (Alipay
VP of Strategy)
5. Nature of MSP G. Alibaba was one of the first platforms that linked international buyers to Chinese
G. Hub-and-spoke* suppliers… They were providing a valuable service, but they had to be careful
because if the transacting parties can interact with one another outside of their
platform, then Alibaba [would become] redundant. (Alibaba B2B Gold Supplier)
* Indicates an inductively derived dimension or theme that is not part, or is an extension, of the initial theoretical lens.
4.2. Mitigating the Threat of Envelopment (2005-2006)

Having established itself as the de facto B2B platform in China by the end of 2004, Alibaba’s
management began to realize that the biggest threat to its business came not from the other B2B
platforms, but rather from massive Internet portals such as Baidu and Google because global buyers
looking for products, services, and business opportunities from Chinese firms and vice versa could
potentially find them by searching on these Internet portals. This is a situation known as “platform
envelopment” (Eisenmann, Parker, & Van Alstyne, 2011), where platform sponsors extend their
platform’s functionality to overlap with those of another to leverage its existing members and
resources in entering a new market. Consequently, Alibaba began to move in a new strategic
direction to counter the envelopment threat (Eisenmann et al., 2006) in 2005. Because its new
strategic direction resulted in the emergence of a networked configuration in its platform, we classified
this period as the second stage of its development. This new strategic direction, in turn, was
facilitated Alibaba’s adopting two different platform development strategies.
First, Alibaba acquired Yahoo China in October 2005. The original intent behind the acquisition was
simply to acquire search engine capabilities to rival those of the Internet portals. However, when
Alibaba tried to isolate the information of its platform members from the reach of the Internet portals
by turning Yahoo China into a proprietary, business-oriented portal, an unanticipated consequence
was that it served to lock its members in and, in the process, fortify its platform boundaries. To date,
most of the information published on the Alibaba network can no longer be accessed by third party
search engines. According to a Yahoo China user: “All the information on the Alibaba network are
only visible on Yahoo China. So very quickly, everyone knew that if you are searching for business
related things, Yahoo China is the search engine to turn to”.
Second, in October 2006, Alibaba acquired Koubei.com, an online lifestyle portal. Like in the case of
Yahoo China, Alibaba acquired Koubei because the former’s management felt that the portal would
be complementary to Alibaba’s B2B and C2C businesses. However, over time, Alibaba’s
management began to realize that Koubei brought about two important benefits. First, Koubei served
to strengthen the sense of community in the platform by enabling its members to “work, spend, and
play” on Alibaba. Second, Koubei facilitated greater interactions between platform members by
encouraging them to spend more time on the Alibaba network. A user of Koubei remarked: “Koubei is
a great tool. You could search for other businesses and leave reviews for them. And it is seamlessly
connected to the other Alibaba websites like Taobao”.
By acquiring Yahoo China, Alibaba was able to demarcate the boundaries of its MSP and consolidate
its position at the center of the platform. In addition, by acquiring Koubei, Alibaba enabled richer and
more frequent interactions between members, which facilitated the formation of informal, autonomous
networks in its platform. The result was the formation of a networked, two-sided platform. This, in
turn, culminated in strategic benefits for Alibaba because it was able to move beyond simply sensing
and responding to expressed member needs to monitoring and analyzing the interactions between its
members to anticipate and predict future and unexpressed needs. Table 6 shows the dimensions and
themes that we found to be salient in this stage and their supporting evidence. We discuss the
derivation of these dimensions and themes in Section 5.
4.3. Pursuing a Digital Ecosystem Strategy (2007-Present)

Alibaba’s strategy in the second stage of its development led to performance gains that outstripped all
initial expectations. Between 2005 and 2006, Alibaba registered an 88.1 percent increase in revenue,
an astounding 212 percent increase in net profits, and an 80.1 percent growth in terms of the number
of registered members. These phenomenal results alerted Alibaba’s management to the strategic
potential of an organic, self-organizing platform. Moreover, Alibaba’s management realized that
promoting self-organization could be a means of reducing their operating costs since platform
members would take ownership of some of the functions that Alibaba previously supported. For
example, members could create advertisements and buy advertising space on their own as opposed
to having Alibaba promote their websites for them. Motivated by these insights, Alibaba began to
enact several initiatives to foster a healthy and symbiotic business ecosystem.
Table 6. Dimensions, Themes, and Data in the Formative Stage (2005-2006)

Dimensions and
Representative data
second-order themes
1. Outside-in
capabilities
A. Market A. By 2005, we basically did not perceive other B2B portals as our competitors any
responsiveness more. We only saw Baidu and Google as our rivals. Information is the lifeblood of
both Alibaba and the search engines. Now that millions of our SME customers all
have their own websites, search engines can potentially grab their information off
the internet and use it for their own purposes. (Alibaba VP of Research &
Training)
B. External B. The acquisition of Yahoo China and Koubei is strategic for Alibaba as it locks
relationship them in and enables them to forge stronger relationships with their members,
management and between the members themselves. (Analyst B)
2. Spanning IS
capabilities
C. IS-strategy C. It was a pre-emptive strategy to counter our rival Baidu... Our intention was to
alignment/ IS gain access to the search engine [and community building] technologies. After
planning acquiring them, we can create an Internet business fortress [to defend against
our rivals] by combining “E”, community, search, and instant messaging to
enhance our B2B and C2C businesses. (Yahoo Koubei Customer Relations
Manager)
3. Enablers of platform
development
D. Encapsulating D. By integrating e-commerce [Alibaba] with an Internet portal [Yahoo China]… we
strategy* can increase the stickiness, breadth and depth of our business... Currently, most
of the information published on our network have been sealed off from [third
party search engines like] Baidu. (Yahoo Koubei Customer Relations Manager)
E. Delegating E. Alibaba served as a platform for exchanging information, communications and

strategy* interactions, as well as transactions. With Yahoo and Koubei, Alibaba was also
the platform for members to search for and review one another… we cannot
force them to use our platform exclusively. But if we provide them with these
tools, at least even if they form their own connections, we can keep them within
Alibaba’s network. (Alibaba VP of Research & Training)
4. Nature of MSP
F. Networked* F. … both Yahoo [China] and Koubei encourage interactions and the formation of
bonds between our members, helping the SMEs and individual users on our
network to live, grow, develop and create leading-edge networks [between
themselves]. (Yahoo Koubei Customer Relations Manager)
In January 2007, Alibaba launched Alisoft, an online software portal based on a software-as-a-service
(SaaS) model to develop and provide Alibaba’s platform members with a comprehensive suite of low
cost, user-friendly Web-based enterprise applications to meet their business IT needs. Around mid-
2007, Alibaba launched Aliloan, an initiative in partnership with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of
China and the China Construction Bank to help SMEs with limited assets or credit history secure
financing for business expansion based on their transaction histories and credibility ratings at Alibaba.
Finally, in November 2007, Alibaba launched Alimama, a trading platform for online advertising space
to enhance the capability of its platform members for online marketing and generating online
advertising revenue. A “5-star” seller on Taobao described these initiatives:
Alimama enabled me to make money off my existing website… If I needed any software, like
CRM software for example, I can get them from Alisoft… Aliloan is particularly useful for smaller
companies… They can use the money to manage their cash flow… [or] grow their business.
Because the initiatives introduced new entity types to Alibaba that transformed it into a multi-sided
platform (Hagiu, 2009), we classified this period as the third stage of its development. More
importantly, the launch of these initiatives corresponds to two important platform development
strategies. First, Alibaba was able to enhance the organizational capabilities of its platform members
so that they became better equipped to contribute toward the overall competitiveness of the platform
in the long run. Second, by helping its members, Alibaba hoped that its platform members would not
only be more capable but also become more motivated to contribute to the collective goals of the
platform. A user of Alibaba’s B2B platform explained: “Alibaba was really promoting this idea that we
are all in it together. They provide these services for us at a subsidized cost in hope that everyone
benefits and in turn, contribute to the community as a whole”. The result was a symbiotic, multi-sided
platform that consists of not only buyers and sellers but also advertisers, complementary service
providers such as software developers, and financial institutions. By fostering a spirit of symbiotism
through these strategies, Alibaba mobilized its platform members for the platform’s collective goals.
Consequently, members were not only able to better participate on Alibaba’s platform but also more
committed, which raised the platform’s overall competitiveness. Table 7 shows the dimensions and
themes that we found to be salient in this stage and their supporting evidence. We explain the
derivation of these dimensions and themes in Section 5.
Table 7. Dimensions, Themes, and Data in the Mature Stage (2007-Present)

Dimensions and
Representative data
second-order themes
1. Outside-in IS
capabilities
A. Market A. The period that we grew most rapidly was right after we opened up the platform [i.e.
responsiveness by allowing the formation of autonomous, informal networks]. I think our revenue
almost doubled during the time… That got us thinking: What if we opened up our
platform further? What if we let our members have greater control over the way they
operated on Alibaba? (Alibaba B2B GM)
2. Spanning IS
capabilities
B. IS-strategy B. The purpose of the ecosystem strategy is to reduce our operating costs, and provide
alignment & IS high quality support to enable the weaker members on our platform to emerge on the
planning surface… Our strategy was to use IT to help them improve their operations… Alisoft
was one way… Platforms like Alimama were another… (Alisoft Executive VP)
3. Outside-out
capabilities*
C. Platform IS C. By providing services and opportunities to the “bit players” in our ecosystem, they
Leadership* attract more “bit players” into the ecosystem… With a very large volume of these
small players working synergistically for the collective good of the ecosystem,
Alibaba’s profitability increases, and we have more resources to invest in enhancing
our service platforms… This virtuous cycle results in a healthy ecosystem that is
beneficial for all ecosystem members. (Alibaba VP of Operations)
4. Enablers of
platform
development
D. Empowering D. With access to more advertising revenue [through Alimama]… capital [through
strategy* Aliloan]… [and] enterprise applications [through Alisoft] that help us manage our
information… we are able to grow our business and operate more efficiently and
effectively. (Taobao 5 Star Seller A)
E. Meshing E. With these services, my business has become more dependent on Alibaba… we
strategy* depend more on each other [other platform members] as well because our we have
more transactions with one another… when you realize this, of course you’d want
everybody to do well. When you have a strong business partner, you’d become
strong as well. (Alibaba B2B Seller B)
Table 7. Dimensions, Themes, and Data in the Mature Stage (2007-Present) (cont.)
Dimensions and
Representative data
second-order themes
5. Nature of MSP
F. Alibaba is no longer just a platform that brings buyers and sellers together. Now we
F. Symbiotic*
have the software developers… advertisers… (and) financial institutions in the
network as well. The entire platform has become an ecosystem of business
entities.(Alibaba B2B User C)
5. Discussion
By integrating the different patterns of MSP development across the nascent, formative, and mature
stages at Alibaba, one can inductively derive a model of the MSP development process at Alibaba
from an IS capability perspective (refer to Figure 2). In particular, our case data reveals a process that
traversed three phases in each stage: 1) initiating MSP development, 2) enabling platform strategy,
and 3) enacting MSP development. In this section, we explain how we constructed the model and
how it enriches the existing perspectives of MSP development.
Figure 2. Process Model of MSP Development
5.1. Initiating MSP Development

While existing studies in the platform development literature have uncovered a variety of enabling
factors (e.g., Dhanaraj & Parkhe, 2006; Eisenmann et al., 2006), our process model complements
them by suggesting that effective MSP development begins with an initiation phase that occurs pre-
development. This initiation phase, seen across the three stages of platform maturity at Alibaba, is
triggered by the manifestation of a driver in the organizational environment, which might be in the
form of not only an opportunity (as Hagiu (2009) suggests) but also a problem (Weick, Sutcliffe, &
Obstfeld, 2005). However, the mere presence of a driver in the external or internal organizational
environment could be insufficient. Our model suggests that, in the context of MSP development,
several IS capabilities are also required and that they should be applied in a particular sequence.
First, market responsiveness’s outside-in IS capabilities (Wade & Hulland, 2004) are required to
detect and make sense (see Maitlis, 2005) of the driver to act on it. In the case of Alibaba, for
example, the instances of market responsiveness that triggered the initiation phase of MSP
development include the realization of the unmet need in the Chinese SME market for a value-
creating internet platform that connected SMEs to the global market (i.e., an opportunity) in the
nascent stage, the awareness of the threat of envelopment (Eisenmann et al., 2011) that stemmed
from internet portals such as Baidu and Google (i.e., a problem) in the formative stage, and the
realization of the strategic potential of an organic, self-organizing platform (i.e., an opportunity) in the
mature stage.
Next, following the detection of a driver, our model reveals the mediating role of the IS-strategy
alignment and IS planning capabilities (Wade & Hulland, 2004) in guiding an appropriate response. At
Alibaba, these capabilities were manifested in the formulation of an appropriate business strategy and
a corresponding IS strategy that facilitated the business strategy in each of the developmental stages.
For instance, Alibaba’s growth strategy in the nascent stage was facilitated by an IS strategy that that
encouraged participation in the nascent stage, while its defensive strategy in the formative stage was
supported by an IS strategy aimed at fortifying its platform boundary. Similarly, Alibaba’s ecosystem
strategy in the mature stage was facilitated by an IS strategy aimed at enhancing the operational
capabilities of its platform members. These spanning IS capabilities are the basis for translating the
detection of the triggers of MSP development into action because they are higher-order capabilities
(see Winter, 2003) that establish direction (Montealegre, 2002). They also enable a firm “to search,
explore, acquire, assimilate, and apply knowledge about resources, opportunities, and how resources
can be configured to exploit opportunities” (Bhatt & Grover, 2005, p. 261).
After the initiation phase, our model suggests that the MSP development process unfolds with the
phases of enabling platform strategy and enacting MSP development. While studies offering
prescriptions for effective MSP development in the existing literature have typically not differentiated
between the various stages of platform maturity (e.g., Gawer & Cusumano, 2008; Rochet & Tirole,
2006), our process model reveals that the nature and role of IS capabilities in each stage could be
vastly different. As such, we organize our discussion of these phases according to the developmental
stages in Sections 5.2 to 5.4.
5.2. IS Capabilities in the Nascent Stage of MSP Development

Our process model suggests that, when a platform is first established in the nascent stage of
development, the IS capabilities that are crucial and that should be emphasized are the inside-out IS
infrastructure and IS technical skills capabilities (Wade & Hulland, 2004). However, these capabilities
do not influence MSP development directly. Instead, their impact on MSP development is mediated
by the facilitation of two platform strategies: a coring strategy and a tipping strategy (Gawer &
Cusumano, 2008). This is in line with the fundamental premise of IS alignment research, which holds
that it is not the uncritical use of IS that leads to the attainment of desired outcomes but the complex,
multi-point alignment between business and IS strategies, business needs, and systems development
priorities and business processes and the enabling technological infrastructure (for a review, refer to
Chan & Reich, 2007).
More specifically, the IS technical skills and IS infrastructure capabilities can be integrated in a coring
strategy to establish a unique and compelling value proposition that is fundamental to the platform
(Gawer & Cusumano, 2008). In Alibaba’s case, we can see this in the way it leveraged the
experience and technical expertise accumulated over their experience in developing ChinaPages and
ChinaMarket (i.e., IS technical skills) to provide mechanisms such as Wangwang and Alipay on their
online platform (i.e., IS infrastructure). This, in turn, established institution-based trust (Pavlou &
Gefen, 2004) and catered to the nuances of Chinese e-commerce (Martinsons, 2008), which
differentiated Alibaba from other local and global B2B portals at this stage.
In addition, the IS technical skills and IS infrastructure capabilities can be applied to support a tipping
strategy to help the platform gain market momentum (Gawer & Cusumano, 2008). For instance, by
involving itself directly in collating and publishing the trade-related information of its members on its
website, facilitating access to the information by organizing the content, providing navigational tools,
and promoting the information on other websites for international trade (i.e., IS infrastructure and IS
technical skills), Alibaba was effectively subsidizing platform membership for its sellers (Bakos &
Katsamakas, 2008; Rochet & Tirole, 2006) because applying these IS capabilities enabled many
Chinese SMEs to overcome their technical limitations, participate on their platform, and,
subsequently, benefit from the global exposure afforded by the Internet. Lowering the costs of
platform participation, in tandem with its unique value proposition, enabled Alibaba to establish itself
as the de facto B2B platform for business opportunities in China.
In line with our findings, the existing literature on platforms suggests two reasons for why inside-out
IS capabilities are particularly important in the initial stage of MSP development. First, by enabling a
coring strategy, they provide the foundation for one to initially form a value-creating MSP (Gawer &
Cusumano, 2008). Second, by enabling a tipping strategy, they create cross-group network effects
that help attract platform members (Parker & van Alstyne, 2005; Rochet & Tirole, 2006), impose
switching costs (Pierce, 2009), and reduce the necessity of multi-homing (i.e., when a platform
member joins multiple platforms (see Armstrong, 2006) to facilitate their retention. Attracting and
retaining platform members is especially crucial to a platform in a fledgling state because, in platform
competition, there is usually a strong need to “amass users as quickly as possible” (Eisenmann et al.,
2006, p. 100).
By supporting a coring strategy, our process model suggests that the inside-out IS capabilities IS
infrastructure and IS technical skills can enable a platform sponsor to entrench itself at the center of
the network on the basis of its control over the foundational technological infrastructure (Teece,
2007). In addition, by facilitating a tipping strategy, these capabilities can enable a platform sponsor
to attract members and attain self-sustaining critical mass (Gawer & Cusumano, 2008). In tandem,
attaining network centrality and critical mass gives rise to a hub-and-spoke configured platform. At
Alibaba, this platform was an archetypal two-sided platform consisting of global and Chinese buyers
on one end and sellers predominantly made up of Chinese SMEs on the other. This hub-and-spoke
platform represents the most basic form of MSP and would be a particularly appropriate development
goal in the earliest stage of platform development because, with network centrality, the sponsor would
be able to provide the services and infrastructure to enable interactions and exchanges between the
different groups of entities (Eisenmann et al., 2009). Moreover, with critical mass, cross-side network
effects would be established between them (Bakos & Katsamakas, 2008). The case of Alibaba further
provides an indication of the strategic benefits of this MSP form. A sponsor at the heart of a hub-and-
spoke platform would have immediate ties with the other entities on it, which would enable the
sponsor to solicit direct feedback and, thus, provide it with critical information on the current and
expressed needs of these members (Koka & Prescott, 2008). Moreover, organizational actions taken
in response to the expressed needs of a small subset of members at the center of the platform would
benefit all entities in the platform concurrently (Blyler & Coff, 2003).
5.3. IS Capabilities in the Formative Stage of MSP Development

After a hub-and-spoke configuration is established, our model suggests that the outside-in IS
capability external relationship management (Wade & Hulland, 2004) should be emphasized in the
next formative stage of MSP development. At Alibaba, this capability was manifested in its acquiring a
search engine (i.e., Yahoo China) and an online lifestyle portal (i.e., Koubei). These initiatives
correspond to the outside-in IS capability external relationship management (Wade & Hulland, 2004)
because their primary function was to facilitate the coordination of buyers and suppliers (Bharadwaj,
2000) by allowing them to search for (i.e., using Yahoo) and form independent relationships (i.e.,
using Koubei) with one another. Once again, the effect of this IS capability on MSP development is
not direct. Instead, based our case study, our model suggests that the capability should be leveraged
in support of what we term an encapsulating strategy and a delegating strategy to give rise to a
desired organizational outcome (Nevo & Wade, 2010).
Extending the platform development strategies that Gawer and Cusumano (2008) propose, we define
an encapsulating strategy as a set of activities that a sponsor can use to fortify platform boundaries
and promote a collective identity in a platform. In our case study, this strategy was manifested in the
way Alibaba was able to use Yahoo (i.e., external relationship management) to restrict external
access from search engines such as Google and Baidu to the information of its platform members. In
addition, we define a delegating strategy as a set of activities used to promote self-governance and
grant platform members autonomy over the interactions and transactions that happen in the platform.
At Alibaba, this strategy was manifested in the way it leveraged Yahoo and Koubei (i.e., external
relationship management) to enable its platform members to form informal, autonomous networks
between themselves, and to further enhance the interactivity in the platform.
Prior studies on platforms corroborate our findings and provide two reasons for why these platform
development strategies, facilitated by external relationship management, are particularly important in
the formative stage of development. First, after the initial stage of MSP development when the MSP is
growing rapidly, platform growth may expand the scope of the platform or attract new entrants to
increase the threat of envelopment (Eisenmann et al., 2006, 2011). Consequently, an encapsulating
strategy enabled by an effective external relationship management capability can allow the platform
sponsor to mitigate this threat by strengthening the collective identity (Ma & Agarwal, 2007) and
fortifying platform boundaries (Eisenmann et al., 2006). Second, platform growth may render the
sponsor’s deep involvement in all the transactions of platform members impossible (Hagiu, 2009).
Moreover, prior studies on other forms of virtual networks have shown that larger networks tend to be
resistant to direct management by the network sponsor (Mohammed, Fisher, Jaworski, & Paddison,
2004; Walden, 2000). As a result, a delegating strategy enabled by a strong external relationship
management capability can allow the platform sponsor to manage the problems associated with
growth by promoting self-organization among platform members (Ghazawneh & Henfridsson, 2010).
With the fortification of platform boundaries and the emergence of autonomous, informal networks, our
process model suggests that the developing MSP would transition from the basic hub-and-spoke
configuration to a more sophisticated networked configuration. With the networked configuration,
members would be allowed to interact and collaborate freely in a protected space, which would result in
greater platform openness (Parker & van Alstyne, 2008). Because platform openness, in turn,
stimulates innovation to increase cross-side network effects and the platform’s scalability (Eisenmann et
al., 2009), the networked configuration can be seen as an appropriate development goal after the
nascent stage. The potential strategic benefits of this form of MSP were also revealed in Alibaba’s case.
More specifically, a networked platform may confer strategic benefits by allowing a platform sponsor to
move beyond sensing and responding reactively to the existing and expressed needs of its members
toward monitoring and analyzing the interactions between its members to anticipate future and
unexpressed needs and, subsequently, respond proactively to those needs (Chandra & Kumar, 2001).
5.4. IS Capabilities in the Mature Stage of MSP Development

Finally, after attaining the networked configuration, our process model suggests that the ability to
manage, develop, and marshal the collective IS capabilities of platform members should be
emphasized in the mature stage of MSP development. We term this ability platform IS leadership and
categorize it as an outside-out IS capability. Extending prior taxonomies (Day, 1994; Wade & Hulland,
2004), we define outside-out IS capabilities as externally-oriented IS capabilities that are deployed
and reside outside the firm and that create more value for external entities than the organization that
deploys them. As in the earlier stages, our findings reveal that the impact of this IS capability on MSP
development once again lies in its facilitation of two platform strategies. One strategy is centered on
fostering solidarity and mutual dependencies among platform members. We term this a meshing
strategy and define it as a set of activities used by a sponsor to strengthen inter-relationships and
promote collectivism in a platform. The second strategy is centered on enhancing the platform
members’ ability to participate and contribute on the platform. We term this an empowering strategy
and define it as a set of activities used by a sponsor to enhance the operational capabilities of
platform members through direct intervention or indirect facilitation.
As an illustration, at Alibaba, platform IS leadership was enacted with the launch of key IT initiatives
such as Alisoft, Aliloan, and Alimama. These initiatives were distinct from those of the earlier stages
in that they in that they provided little direct benefits for Alibaba and were aimed at upgrading the
abilities of their platform members to obtain enterprise applications, loans, and advertising revenue,
respectively (i.e., an outside-out IS capability). Through these IT initiatives, Alibaba was able to
expand its platform to include a greater variety of entities such as applications developers, banks, and
advertisers and deepen the relationships between platform members by fostering mutual
dependencies in a meshing strategy. In particular, the latter happens as the extent of engagement
between members (e.g., trading advertising space in addition to monetary exchanges) and with the
platform sponsor (e.g., providing enterprise applications and additional services in addition to simply
being a trading platform) increases.
In addition, these IT initiatives provided Alibaba’s platform members with the means to enhance their
operations and overall performance. For example, Aliloan provided smaller SMEs that faced difficulties
in obtaining loans with the means to do so based on their trading and credit history on Alibaba. In a
similar vein, Alisoft provided members who were unable or unwilling to spend on expensive, off-the-
shelf software packages with access to the necessary enterprise applications that could facilitate their
business needs. Likewise, Alimama provided platform members with access to potential advertisers and
the means of generating revenue from online advertising. These form an empowering strategy that
translates to improvements in the platform members’ 1) business expansion (by enhancing their ability
to obtain funding), 2) IS (by supporting their business processes with the appropriate software), and 3)
revenue generation (by opening up a new revenue stream) capabilities.
Research on mature platforms suggest two reasons for why the meshing and empowering strategies
enabled by platform IS leadership were particularly salient to Alibaba’s MSP’s development in the
mature stage. First, a mature platform can be difficult to manage because the sheer size of its
membership base increases the volume and complexity of platform activities, which “create a great
deal of information asymmetry and strategic uncertainty” and make it “a challenge simply to maintain
‘coherence’” (Boudreau & Hagiu, 2009, p. 167). Consequently, a meshing strategy can be a means of
coordinating the activities of platform members in lieu of feasible mechanisms for direct management
because it fosters mutual dependencies that promote solidarity and collective action (Adler & Kwon,
2002) and that provide the foundation for stability, productivity, and creativity in the platform (Iansiti &
Levien, 2004a). Second, platform sponsors can often extract a significant amount of economic value
from a mature platform (Iansiti & Levien, 2004a). But, in doing so, their commercial success may
attract new entrants seeking to usurp their leadership role (Eisenmann et al., 2009). An empowering
strategy may, therefore, be important because, by strengthening the organizational capabilities of
their platform members, the sponsor enhances its goodwill and relationship with these entities, which,
in turn, increases platform loyalty (Adler & Kwon, 2002). Moreover, by facilitating platform capability
development and becoming more valuable to the other entities, the sponsor can simultaneously gain
power and control in the platform (Brown & Eisenhardt, 1997).
The meshing strategy, in fostering mutual dependencies, promotes solidarity and the motivation for
collective action (Adler & Kwon, 2002). The empowering strategy, on the other hand, improves the
capabilities of existing members for pursuing collective goals (Iansiti & Levien, 2004a). With the
heightened motivation and ability for collective action, our process model suggests that the networked
MSP of the previous phase would be transformed into a symbiotic MSP characterized by a co-
evolving, collaborative, and self-reinforcing system of strategic contributions (Moore, 1996). As
Alibaba’s case reveals, this form of MSP represents a highly sophisticated and strategic state of
platform development because, because the entire platform functions as a single entity that uses
communal resources and capabilities for the platform’s shared objectives, individual platform
members may be engaged in the co-production of innovations (Lengnick-Hall, 1996). This 1)
invalidates the need to sense or anticipate its members’ needs, 2) enables the concurrent
development of a near-infinite range of personalized innovations, and 3) provides the strongest
assurances that the innovations pursued are in line with those needs (Tan, Pan, & Hackney, 2010)
since the innovations are tailor-made for platform members by the members themselves.
In summary, our model provides some answers to the research questions set forth at the beginning of
this paper. In relation to our first question (i.e., how did the IS capabilities of Alibaba influence the
formation and growth of its MSP?), our model reveals that the IS capabilities of Alibaba influenced the
formation and growth of its MSP by facilitating several platform strategies: a coring strategy and a
tipping strategy in the nascent stage (see Gawer & Cusumano, 2008), an encapsulating strategy and
a delegating strategy in the formative stage, and a meshing strategy and an empowering strategy in
the mature stage. In relation to our second research question (i.e., how did Alibaba’s IS capabilities
evolve with the development of its MSP over time?), our model suggests that Alibaba acquired or
developed different categories of IS capabilities and subsequently leveraged them to derive important
developmental and strategic outcomes in each stage of MSP development. In particular, the leverage
of its inside-out, outside-in, and outside-out IS capabilities were emphasized in the nascent,
formative, and mature stage, respectively.
6. Conclusion
6.1. Theoretical Contributions
At the outset of this paper, we note how there was a lack of research on MSP development from an
IS capability perspective even though the MSPs that growing into dominance in the contemporary
business landscape are underpinned by IS (Yoo et al., 2007). This study is one of the earliest to
contribute towards addressing this gap and, in the inductively-derived theory we present, we make
several important theoretical contributions. First, while prior research on MSPs have looked at various
aspects of platform development (e.g., Dhanaraj & Parkhe, 2006; Eisenmann et al., 2006), our
process model underscores the need to pay attention to an initiation phase that occurs prior to the
development process. In particular, our study has pointed out that platform development is typically
initiated by an environmental trigger and, more importantly, the IS capabilities of market
responsiveness, IS planning and IS-strategy alignment are required to detect the driver and translate
this into action.
Second, while prior studies have discussed the importance of the coring and tipping strategies in
platform development (Gawer & Cusumano, 2008), our study has contributed to the state of existing
knowledge by identifying four new types of platform development strategies that are grounded in the
evidence of our case study. More specifically, the encapsulating, delegating, meshing, and
empowering platform development strategies that our model proposes to be particularly salient in the
latter stages of MSP maturity are all conceptual innovations. Complementing the existing work in this
area, our study can serve as a signpost for future studies seeking to flesh out these concepts or as
the basis for developing a typology of platform development strategies.
Third, prior studies on MSP development have typically not differentiated between the various stages
of platform maturity when identifying the enablers of platform development (e.g., Dhanaraj & Parkhe,
2006; Eisenmann et al., 2006). This is a potential issue because our findings reveal that different
factors could be particularly salient in each stage. By presenting a process model that outlines how a
platform may transition from a hub-and-spoke MSP to a networked MSP before eventually becoming
a symbiotic MSP, our study can serve as the foundation for the development of a platform maturity
model. To the best of our knowledge, there are no maturity models as yet in the existing MSP
literature. Maturity models can be useful because they introduce a dimension of temporality to the
existing theoretical discourse and provide a frame of reference for identifying contingencies and
boundary conditions that deepen our understanding of a phenomenon. Moreover, by identifying the IS
capabilities that are crucial in each stage and relating them to some of the enablers of platform
development in the existing literature, our study has revealed a possible sequence and some
boundary conditions of those enablers. For example, our process model suggests that platform
openness (Economides & Katsamakas, 2006b; Eisenmann et al., 2009) may be more important to
MSP development from the formative stage onwards, whereas the emphasis of the sponsor in the
nascent stage should be on developing a compelling value proposition and attaining critical mass
(Gawer & Cusumano, 2008). These propositions suggest that a more nuanced view of MSP
development is necessary and provide some insights that could contribute towards the development
of a contingency perspective of MSP development.
Lastly, this study also contributes to the research on IS capabilities. In particular, our study provides a
dynamic and longitudinal perspective of the role of IS capabilities in the specific context of MSP
development and suggests that certain categories of IS capabilities should come to the fore in
different stages of MSP maturity. More specifically, our study suggests that the inside-out IS
capabilities of IS infrastructure and IS technical skills (Wade & Hulland, 2004) should be emphasized
in support of the coring and tipping platform strategies (Gawer & Cusumano, 2008) to establish a
unique value proposition, an appropriate pricing structure (Bakos & Katsamakas, 2008; Rochet &
Tirole, 2006), institution-based trust (Pavlou & Gefen, 2004), and market momentum (Eisenmann et
al., 2006) in the nascent stage of MSP development. Conversely, the outside-in IS capability of
external relationship management (Wade & Hulland, 2004) in support of the encapsulating and
empowering strategies and the outside-out IS capability of platform IS leadership in support of the
meshing and empowering strategies should be emphasized in the formative and mature stages of
MSP development, respectively. This is because the former serves to mitigate the threat of
envelopment (Eisenmann et al., 2006, 2011) and the risks of expansion (Hagiu, 2009), while the latter
creates coherence (Boudreau & Hagiu, 2009) and fosters the motivation and ability for collective
action (Iansiti & Levien, 2004a). These findings are particularly significant in that they reveal not only
how IS capabilities can support effective MSP development but also how they should be selectively
applied across the different stages of MSP maturity.
Moreover, our study introduces the notion of outside-out IS capabilities that currently falls beyond
existing taxonomies of IS capabilities (see Wade & Hulland, 2004). This conceptual innovation is
important because it hints at another possible perspective of how IS capabilities can be applied for
organizational value beyond the two dominant perspectives of contemporary IS capabilities research
(Piccoli & Ives, 2005). As we discuss earlier, the existing perspectives of how IS capabilities can be
leveraged for organizational value tend to be aligned with either the RBV (e.g., Bhatt & Grover, 2005;
Nevo & Wade, 2010) or an agility perspective (e.g., Overby et al., 2006; Sambamurthy et al., 2003).
However, an alternative approach to strategy may be based on a logic of complexity (for a review,
see Lengnick-Hall & Wolff, 1999) and the concept of outside-out IS capabilities could be a
manifestation of this logic. Consequently, this paper can potentially serve as a catalyst for further
research on this particular mechanism for value creation (i.e., an IS-enabled ecosystem strategy),
and, by complementing the two dominant perspectives of IS capabilities, a more holistic and complete
picture of the business value of IS capabilities may emerge.
6.2. Limitations and Future Research

This study is not without its limitations. A first limitation is that our research design is based on a
single case study and, although studies based on single cases are a “typical and legitimate endeavor”
(Lee & Baskerville, 2003, p. 231), a common criticism of the approach is the problem of
generalizability (Walsham, 2006). While we readily acknowledge that generalization, in a statistical
sense, is impossible with our research design, we contend that our study is generalizable beyond its
singular context because the process model developed is not only grounded in the empirical reality of
our case study but also corroborated by some of the most established works in the literature on MSPs
and IS capabilities. As such, this study invokes the principles of “analytic generalization” (Yin, 2003,
p. 32) or what Lee and Baskerville (2003, p. 235) refer to as “generalizing from description to theory”.
Nevertheless, future research could statistically validate the propositions of our study so that the
boundary conditions of the process model developed in this paper can be better defined.
A second limitation is that the focus of our study was restricted to the IS capabilities of the platform
sponsor (i.e., Alibaba) because we expected them to have a direct and powerful influence
(Eisenmann et al., 2006; Hagiu, 2009) on MSP development. However, a MSP consists of other
peripheral entities, too (Gawer & Cusumano, 2008; Teece, 2007), and, although the effect may or
may not be less direct, the collective and independent influence of the IS capabilities of these entities
on MSP development cannot be discounted. In addition, an MSP could certainly be configured

differently (e.g., have no clearly defined or more than one sponsor). While it is certainly impossible to
exhaustively account for the influence of all the IS capabilities of the various types of platform
members in all possible forms of MSPs in a single case study, examining the influence of the IS
capabilities of peripheral entities could be a fruitful avenue for future inquiry. Investigating the role of
IS capabilities in MSPs that have a different configuration could yield important insights, too. While
they fall beyond the scope of the present study, future studies in these areas would certainly provide
a more complete picture of the role of IS capabilities in MSP development.
6.3. Implications for Practice

In terms of implications for practice, this study provides several important guidelines for developing
and subsequently leveraging a contemporary IS-enabled MSP for current and aspiring platform
sponsors. First, our process model presents a MSP development trajectory with successive stages of
increasing sophistication. In addition, it explicitly identifies the IS capabilities that should be leveraged
and includes examples of specific initiatives from one of the most commercially successful MSPs in
the world across its development stages. In doing so, platform sponsors can use our process model
to review their existing IS capabilities and plan for the acquisition or development of the appropriate
capabilities if the need arises (i.e. if they do not currently possess those capabilities or if the existing
capabilities are inadequate). Second, our study also highlights the platform development strategies
that are particularly effective across the stages and provides explanations about how these strategies
can be enabled by IS capabilities to influence MSP development. As such, platform sponsors may
also be able to use our process model as a detailed roadmap and adopt the appropriate development
goals and strategies depending on their platform’s maturity.
Finally, our study also provides indications on the different organizational gains that can be derived
from a MSP depending on how the platform is configured. More specifically, our study reveals how: 1)
a hub-and-spoke MSP can enable a sponsor to better sense and respond to its members needs in
the nascent stage, 2) a networked MSP can enable a sponsor to monitor interactions between
members to anticipate future or unexpressed needs in the formative stage, and 3) a symbiotic MSP
can enable a sponsor to marshal the resources of its members towards collective goals and the co-
production of innovations in the mature stage. These indications should be especially useful for
sponsors who face difficulties in leveraging their platforms for tangible gains (Eisenmann et al., 2006)
because our process model can help in the identification of an appropriate mechanism for stimulating
innovation and platform value creation (Dhanaraj & Parkhe, 2006). In doing so, we hope that these
platform sponsors will be able to make the most of the efforts and resources invested in managing
their MSPs and exploit their fullest potential.
Acknowledgments
This paper was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant
71228201.
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Appendices
Appendix A: Sample Interview Guide
Table A-1. Thematic Interview Guide for Interview with Alibaba B2B General Manager
Initial strategy of Alibaba’s MSP:
• What was the reason for the founding of Alibaba?

• Why was the small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) market targeted specifically?
• What was the market situation at the time?
• Were there unmet needs in the market?
• How did Alibaba fulfill those needs?
Evolution of Alibaba’s MSP:
• How did Alibaba evolve over the years?

• What were some of the key initiatives of Alibaba over the course of its history?
• What is rationale behind these initiatives?
• How did these initiatives contribute to the development of Alibaba?
Alibaba B2B’s competitive environment:
• Who were Alibaba’s main competitors at the time of its launch (both local and international)?
• How has the competition of Alibaba B2B evolved over the years?
• What is the value proposition of Alibaba B2B relative to its competitors?
• How has the market share of Alibaba grown over time in the B2B marketplace industry (in
terms of local market share and global market share)?
Alibaba’s platform development strategy:
• How did Alibaba attract buyers and sellers to its platform initially?
• How did Alibaba sustain the growth of its platform over the years?
• What were the different groups that joined and participated on the platform over the years?
• How did the strategies for promoting the growth of its platform evolve over time?
• How did the technological infrastructure of Alibaba influence the development of its platform
over the years?
Features and services of Alibaba B2B:
• What are some of the unique features of Alibaba B2B compared to its competitors over the
years?
• What are the services provided by Alibaba B2B and how have they evolved over time?
• What is the value of the various features and services of Alibaba B2B for the users?
• How did the features and services of Alibaba B2B contribute to the development of Alibaba’s
platform?
Revenue model of Alibaba B2B:
• What is the monetization strategy of Alibaba B2B at its inception?

• How has the monetization strategy of Alibaba B2B evolved over the years?
• How does the Gold Supplier scheme of Alibaba B2B work?
Appendix B: Summary of Data Collection
Table B-1. Primary and Secondary Sources of Data

Themes covered Informants Secondary data collected
Nascent stage Alibaba Group News articles
(1999-2005): - Alibaba B2B General Manager - Alibaba Gives Investors First
- Initial strategy of Alibaba’s MSP - Alipay Vice President (VP) of Taste of Micro Credits (2013)
- Alibaba B2B’s competitive Strategy (www. globalcapital.com)
environment - Taobao VP of Customer Relations - Why eBay Failed in China (2013)
- Motivation for establishing Taobao - Alibaba VP of Research and (Website: psmag.com)
and Alipay training - How eBay Failed in China (2010)
- Features and services of Alibaba (www.forbes.com)
B2B, Taobao and Alipay Merchants - Alibaba Launches Business
- Platform competition between - Alibaba B2B Gold Supplier Software Company (2007)
Taobao and eBay - Alibaba B2B Seller A (www.china.org.cn)
- Taobao Seller - Alibaba Group Launches Online
Advertising Exchange Company
Buyers Alimama (2007)
- Taobao User A (www.ecommercebytes.com)
- Taobao User B - Alibaba Buys Koubei.com (2006)
- Alibaba B2B User A (www.venturedata.org)
- Alibaba acquires Yahoo China
Analysts* (2005) (www.chinadaily.com.cn)
- Analyst A
Books
Formative Stage Alibaba Group - Alibaba’s Yun Ma’s Knack for
(2005-2006): - Alibaba B2B General Manager Doing Business (2012) (Published
- Motivation of acquiring Yahoo and - Alibaba VP of Research and by China Pictorial Publishing
Koubei training House)
- Business objectives of Yahoo and - Yahoo Koubei Customer Relations - Ma Yun: This is the Way I Manage
Koubei Manager Alibaba (2012) (Published by
- Features and services of Yahoo Shanxi Peoples Publishing House)
and Koubei Buyers - Biography of Ma Yun (2011)
- Implications of the acquisitions for - Taobao User C (Published by Zhejiang Publishing
Alibaba’s MSP and platform - Alibaba B2B User B United Group)
development strategy - Yahoo Koubei User A - Ma Yun and Alibaba (2011)
- Yahoo Koubei User B (Published by Modern Press)
- The Inside Story Behind Jack Ma
Analysts* and the Creation of the World’s
- Analyst A Biggest Online Marketplace (2009)
- Analyst B (Published by Harper Business)
- The Official Alibaba.com Success
Guide (2009) (Published by Wiley)
Internal Publications
- Ascend (2012) (Annual Report
FY2011)
- The Future is Bright with Alibaba
(2011) (Annual Report FY2010)
- Grown by You (2010) (Annual
Report FY2009)
- Global Trade Starts Here (2009)
(Annual Report FY2008)
Table B-1. Primary and Secondary Sources of Data (cont).

Themes covered Informants Secondary data collected
Mature stage Alibaba Group Corporate website articles
(2007-Present) - Alibaba B2B General Manager - Alibaba Group Launches Online
- Motivation for establishing - Taobao VP of Customer Relations Advertising Exchange Company
Alimama, Alisoft and Aliloan - Alimama Senior Manager Alimama (2007) (Press Release)
- Business objectives of Alimama, - Alisoft Executive VP - Alibaba Group Makes Strategic
Alisoft and Aliloan - Alibaba VP of Operations Investment in Koubei.com (2006)
- Features and services of Merchants (Press Release)
Alimama, Alisoft and Aliloan - Alibaba B2B Seller B - Yahoo China Launches
- Implications of Alimama, Alisoft - Taobao 5 Star Seller A Specialized Search Functions
and Aliloan for Alibaba’s MSP and - Taobao 5 Star Seller B (2006) (Press Release)
platform development strategy Advertisers - Alibaba.com Launches Online
- Alimama User A Payment Solution in China (2005)
- Alimama User B (Press Release)
Buyers - Yahoo! and Alibaba.com form
- Taobao User D Strategic Partnership in China
- Alibaba B2B User C (2005) (Press Release)
- Alisoft User A - Alibaba.com Brings Trust to Online
- Alisoft User B B2B Commerce for SMEs (2001)
Analysts* (Press Release)
- Analyst A
- Analyst B
*Analysts are past and present power users of Alibaba’s platform that have taken on a coaching and commentary role. They
serve to review, critique, and develop tutorials on the features and services provided by Alibaba and provide opinion
leadership on innovations and future directions.
Appendix C: Summary of Data Analysis
Table C-1. Coding Techniques Used in Data Analysis

Coding type Purpose
To identify key events that have occurred and the initiatives enacted (e.g., launch
Factual coding
of Alipay and Alimama, acquisition of Yahoo China and Koubei). We triangulated
(Major & Savin-
information from the interviews against secondary sources such as news articles,
Baden, 2010)
books, internal publications, and information from the corporate website.
To identify theoretical dimensions, suggested by the case data, which have not
been anticipated a priori. An example is the inclusion of a form of IS capabilities
we termed “outside-out” IS capabilities. Alibaba’s initiatives in the mature stage of
Open coding its platform development, in particular, relate to externally-oriented IS capabilities
(Strauss & Corbin, that are deployed and reside outside the firm. Because this falls beyond the
1998) existing taxonomies of IS capabilities (Wade & Hulland, 2004), we used open
coding, in which several passes were made through the data to identify the
relevant pieces of information, to flesh out the construct and relate it to our
emergent theory.
To identify second-order themes, suggested by the case data, which have not
Axial coding been anticipated a priori. Examples include the delegating, encapsulating,
(Strauss & Corbin, meshing, and empowering platform development strategies of Alibaba in the
1998) formative and mature stages. These are sub-themes are related to the “enablers
of platform development” theme of the initial theoretical lens (refer to Table 4).
To relate our empirical findings to the theoretical dimensions and second-order
themes identified in the existing literature as captured in our initial theoretical lens
Selective coding
or emergent theory. Examples include data relevant to the capabilities of market
(Strauss & Corbin,
responsiveness, IS planning, IS-strategy alignment, external relationship
1998)
management, IS infrastructure and IS technical skills, which have been identified
in previous taxonomies of IS capabilities (Wade & Hulland, 2004).
About the Authors

Barney TAN is a Senior Lecturer from the Discipline of Business Information Systems at The
University of Sydney Business School. He received his PhD in Information Systems from the National
University of Singapore. His research interests include strategic information systems, enterprise
systems implementation, electronic commerce, Chinese IT management and qualitative research
methods. His research has been published in Information Systems Research, Journal of Association
of Information Systems, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Journal of the Association
for Information Science and Technology, Information and Organization, Information and Management,
and European Management Journal.
Shan L. PAN is Professor of Information Systems, Technology and Management at The University of
New South Wales Business School, The University of New South Wales. His research interest is
digital enablement within the contexts of business and social innovation. He has conducted more than
50 in-depth studies on state-owned enterprises, commercial organizations, villages and non-profit
organizations in Asia. He has published in journals such as MIS Quarterly, Information Systems
Research, Journal of AIS, Information Systems Journal, and European Journal of Information
Systems. He was an Associate Editor of MIS Quarterly and Information Systems Research and is
currently an Associate Editor of Information and Management, Decision Sciences, and
Communications of the AIS.
Xianghua LU is an Associate Professor of Information Management and Information Systems at the

School of Management, Fudan University. She received her doctoral degree from Fudan University.
Her research interests include Internet marketing, electronic commerce, virtual communities, and
information technology management. Her research work has appeared in journals such as
Information Systems Research, Marketing Science, and Journal of Management Information Systems.
Lihua HUANG is a Professor at Department of Information Management and Information Systems,

School of Management, Fudan University. She is the Vice Chairman of the China Mainland Chapter
of the AIS. She has served as the Associate Dean at the School and the Head of the Department of
Information Management and Information System. Her research interests include electronic business,
big data, and IT adoption. She received her PhD in Management Science from Fudan University and
Bachelor and Master Degree from Tsinghua University in China. She has published papers in journals
such as Information Systems Research, Journal of Management Information Systems,
Communication of the Association for Information Systems, Decision Support Systems, ACM
Transaction of MIS, European Journal of Information Systems, International Journal of Production
Economics, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, and Journal of Global Information
Management.
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Leveraging Digital Business Ecosystems for Enterprise Agility: The Tri-Logic

Conference Paper · January 2009

Barney Tan Shan L Pan

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Xianghua Lu Lihua Huang

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The Role of IS Capabilities in the Development of

Multi-Sided Platforms: The Digital Ecosystem Strategy

Shan L. Pan Lihua Huang

Volume 16, Issue 4, pp. 248-280, April 2015

Table 1. Selected Studies on MSP Development

Table 1. Selected Studies on MSP Development (cont.)

Table 2. Selected Typologies of IS Capabilities

Table 2. Selected Typologies of IS Capabilities (cont.)

Table 3. Wade and Hulland’s (2004) Typology of IS Capabilities1

3.1. Data Collection

3.2. Data Analysis

Table 4. Dimensions and Themes of Theoretical Lens

Figure 1. Overview of Research Approach

4.1. Catering to an Unmet Need (1999-2004)

Table 5. Dimensions, Themes, and Data in the Nascent Stage (1999-2004)

4.2. Mitigating the Threat of Envelopment (2005-2006)

4.3. Pursuing a Digital Ecosystem Strategy (2007-Present)

Table 6. Dimensions, Themes, and Data in the Formative Stage (2005-2006)

E. Delegating E. Alibaba served as a platform for exchanging information, communications and

Table 7. Dimensions, Themes, and Data in the Mature Stage (2007-Present)

Figure 2. Process Model of MSP Development

5.1. Initiating MSP Development

5.2. IS Capabilities in the Nascent Stage of MSP Development

5.3. IS Capabilities in the Formative Stage of MSP Development

5.4. IS Capabilities in the Mature Stage of MSP Development

6.2. Limitations and Future Research

on MSP development cannot be discounted. In addition, an MSP could certainly be configured

6.3. Implications for Practice

Lengnick-Hall, C. A. (1996). Customer contributions to quality: A different view of the customer-

• What was the reason for the founding of Alibaba?

Evolution of Alibaba’s MSP:

• How did Alibaba evolve over the years?

Alibaba B2B’s competitive environment:

Alibaba’s platform development strategy:

Features and services of Alibaba B2B:

Revenue model of Alibaba B2B:

• What is the monetization strategy of Alibaba B2B at its inception?

Appendix B: Summary of Data Collection

Table B-1. Primary and Secondary Sources of Data

Table B-1. Primary and Secondary Sources of Data (cont).

Appendix C: Summary of Data Analysis

Table C-1. Coding Techniques Used in Data Analysis

About the Authors

Xianghua LU is an Associate Professor of Information Management and Information Systems at the

Lihua HUANG is a Professor at Department of Information Management and Information Systems,

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