DIGITAL PLATFORMS AND BUSINESS MODEL STRATEGIES - 2025/6

Module Overview

In this module you will learn to formulate and implement business strategy in hi-tech industries featuring platforms and related ecosystems. Such hi-tech industries present specific challenges and opportunities to managers and strategists across a range of sectors. The module should be of particular interest to participants interested in managing a business in hi-tech, or a business in which technology matters, and to those interested in consulting or venture capital. 

Module provider

Surrey Business School

Module Leader

TEE Richard (SBS)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 7

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 2

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None

Module content

The module will include the following indicative topics:

• Digitalisation and platforms


• Value creation and capture through business models


• Technological change and market dynamics in the digital economy


• Platform ecosystem dynamics


• Platform architecture and governance


• Digital platforms: economics and strategy


• Platform ecosystem governance, platform dominance, and the temptation of abuse


• Platform pricing, versioning and the sharing economy


• Digital platforms: Evolution of the digital ecosystem

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

Alternative assessment consists of an extended individual report

Assessment Strategy

The summative assessment consists of:

• Team presentation on a topic of their choice, related to the module content (15 minutes)


• Individual report applying the concepts of the module to a digital platform (up to 2,500 words)

• Students can be expected to receive feedback from faculty to discussions and team exercises in class


• A marking scheme which provides criteria on how marks will be awarded for each element of different assessments will be provided

Module aims

• Clarify how to create value and how to capture value in hi-tech industries
• Enable students to integrate theoretical concepts and models with practical application to business situations
• Show how to leverage innovation, how to organize for innovation, open innovation, and platforms for innovation
• Analyse industries where standards and platforms affect industry dynamics

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to blend different learning experiences

The learning and teaching methods include:

• Introduction of theory


• Presentations by external platform and ecosystem experts and Q&A sessions


• Case studies


• Video and simulations


• Self-directed learning

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: MANM352

Other information

Digital Skills: 
The module focuses on industries where digital technologies play a key role, including in the form of digital platforms that create new industries or affect existing ones, as well as their accompanying business models. Students will be equipped with a variety of digital capabilities, combining state of the art frameworks and theories with practical knowledge to effectively navigate platform industries and consider the role of business model strategies. 

Resourcefulness and resilience:  

Student resourcefulness and resilience is developed through both the assessed individual and group-based deliverables as well as in-class exercises. Classroom exercises focus on complex real-world problems, requiring students to come up with novel solutions to settings they may not be closely familiar with. The module also uses a time-limited, in-class simulation exercise that provides concrete feedback based on a variety of strategic decisions made by student groups. 

Employability: 

The module focuses on a variety of concepts that helps student employability both in hi-tech industries as well as more mature settings that are reshaped by digital transformation. Key themes include strategic and business-model questions that consultants or managers face in a variety platform-based industries as well as related applications and technologies such as blockchain. 

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2025/6 academic year.