EFIMM0138 Behavioural Decision Making, Assignment Brief 2023-2024 | University of Bristol

Assignment Topic

In the digital economy, platforms are transforming industries at high speed. Airbnb, Uber, Alibaba, Facebook, Amazon, YouTube, eBay, Apple, Google, Instagram are just some examples from a list of disruptive platforms. Each is unique and focused on a distinctive industry and market, and each has harnessed the power of the platform to transform a swath of the global economy. Platforms are beginning to transform a range of economic and social arenas, from business and education to health care and government. In fact, the list of fastest-growing global brands is increasingly dominated by platform businesses. The rise of the platform has already transformed many major industries—and more, equally important transformations are on the way. 

Undoubtedly, human society is undergoing a platform revolution, and the world has entered an era of platformization. A platform is a business system which supports value-creating interactions between external producers and consumers. Platforms invert companies, blurring business
boundaries and transforming firms’ traditional inward focus into an outward focus. Nowadays, many platforms operate in a two-side market, collecting consumers and firms. The economic activities and behaviors of platform users have impacts on platforms’ decision making.

Discuss Question

 Considering platform users’ various behaviors, how should the platform optimize its decision making, manage competition among platform system members (to maintain the diversity and balance of the platform ecosystem), and devise a cooperation mechanism of the members to jointly promote the sustainable development of the platform ecosystem?

In your discussion, consider the following points:

1. Choose any type of platform (e.g., user-generated content platform, and sharing platform) that interests you and has a significant influence in the industry;
2. Discuss the cognition and heuristics impact managerial judgment of users in the chosen platform (ILO1);
3. Use analytical skills to explain the effects of platform users’ behaviours on the platform’s decision making, and provide guidance on how to make optimal decisions (ILO2, ILO3);
4. Use the analytical results to provide insights into how to use emerging technologies to improve the platform’s decision making and promote the sustainable development of the platform ecosystem (ILO4);
5. Conclude by identifying what, if any, lessons can be learned from your chosen case for other platforms (ILO1, ILO2, ILO3, ILO4).