Platform Strategy

How are digital platforms shaping the world we live in and what does that mean for your organisation? 

Platform businesses like Alibaba, Amazon, Facebook, and Google, have become dominant players in the global economy, causing businesses across a variety of sectors to consider how they can adopt platform thinking to ensure their survival in a digital age.

This Postgraduate Award will provide you with a broad perspective on platform strategy and highlight its relevance for private and public organisations. You will explore when to embrace platform thinking, how to build and design effective digital platforms, how to develop and execute adoption and pricing strategies and how to benefit from third-party innovation and orchestrate a vibrant ecosystem of contributors.

You will also explore the role of AI in digital platforms and discuss in-depth the cybersecurity concerns that rise with the introduction of AI and other emerging technologies. This course will also consider the implications of working with platforms and highlight how you can better understand how to participate and work with various platforms in your organisational role.

This face-to-face course is about real-world application of knowledge. You will be asked to consider the challenges facing your business, as well as using case studies, hands-on exercises, and interactive discussions to analyse examples of successful and failed platforms.

  • Start Date Autumn 2025
  • Duration 4 days
  • Location London - The Shard
  • Format Part-time
  • Fees £4,410 *
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* See fees and funding for fees breakdown.

Duration

This Postgraduate Award will run across four days of face-to-face teaching at our London base in The Shard, allowing you to build a network of like-minded peers. You will have a six week window to complete your assignments and will receive a Postgraduate Award upon completion.

Structure

  • Day one: You will explore what makes digital platform a disruptive business model and learn how to assess whether platformisation is suitable for your organisation.
  • Day two: You will explore key building elements of platform strategy such as platform IT architecture design, adoption and pricing strategies to develop an understanding about what makes digital platform successful. You will also explore common challenges that incumbent companies face when deciding to launch their own platforms.
  • Day three: You will develop an understanding for platform openness and learn how to orchestrate third-party innovations into a vibrant ecosystem.
  • Day four: You will explore the role of AI in digital platforms, as well as consider various cybersecurity challenges that come from the use of AI or other emerging technologies and how to tackle them.

To consolidate your learning, you will complete a reflective essay. The assignment will provide you with an opportunity to apply your learning to real life situations, allowing you to take back tangible knowledge that could support your organisation. 

What will you learn?

  • You will be able to demonstrate a broad understanding of platform strategy, and the implications of platform thinking for the overall digital transformation strategy of your organisation
  • You will learn how to assess the suitability of the platform business model to your organisation
  • You will learn how to build and scale a successful platform for your own organisation or how to successfully work with external digital platforms in your role
  • You will learn how to design and execute a successful monetisation strategy
  • You will learn how to work with third-party innovators and orchestrate a robust ecosystem of contributors
  • You will explore how to leverage the potential of AI in digital platforms and to critically assess and mitigate the cybersecurity concerns associated with it (e.g., data poisoning, model theft).

“Digital platforms, which underpin the business models of the world’s most successful companies, are disrupting most industries and re-defining key business assumptions. Whether a company seeks to launch its own platform or to participate on existing platforms, the success of these endeavours depends on how well it understands the new platform rules.”

Kalina Staykova Course Director

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